


Kissing in Bunk Beds

by queensusan



Category: Shazam! (2019)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Awkward First Times, Birthday Fluff, Birthday Sex, Boyfriends, Boys Kissing, Coitus Interruptus, Coming Out, Disabled Character, Family Dinners, Family Feels, Family Fluff, First Time, First Time Blow Jobs, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Frottage, Guilt, Homophobic Language, Humor, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Physical Disability, Premature Ejaculation, Sex Education, Spin the Bottle, Sweet, Truth or Dare, clumsy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-01-06 12:50:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 15
Words: 32,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18388769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queensusan/pseuds/queensusan
Summary: Billy and Freddy may be superheros, but they're also horny teenagers in a house with too many people and too little privacy.  Good thing they're creative.Family/relationship fluff and enthusiastic sexual experimentation





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Поцелуи украдкой](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18656575) by [mr_inferiority](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mr_inferiority/pseuds/mr_inferiority)



> I have left the ages of the characters vague- they're still in their teens but this is set at some point in the future. I urge you to read the characters at whichever age you feel comfortable with. I mean no disrespect to the actors who play these characters- this fanfic is about characters that do not exist in real life, not actors.

The bottom bunk was painfully squeaky and only slightly better than the top bunk, which sounded like a sack full of mice being shaken every time Billy moved at night. The narrow bunk mattresses were barely meant for one boy, and with the two of them crammed together, their arms awkwardly positioned around each other, it seemed to groan and squeal every time they breathed. And yet they had to be quiet- so, so quiet. Freddy didn't think Rosa or Victor would _mind_ per se that Freddy and Billy were... whatever they were, but it would lead to all sorts of awkward questions and talks and maybe their foster parents would decide they should be put in separate rooms and--

“Ngh-” A surprised, bitten off noise escaped Freddy's lips, entirely without his permission, when Billy's hand slid under his shirt and settled on his waist. Billy's hand was on his bare waist, almost touching the waistband of his jeans, and _oh, holy Batman_ , Billy's hand was, like, five inches away from Freddy's penis. His actual penis, which just by nature of being five inches away from the hand that Freddy had feverishly fantasized about countless times, was in very grim danger of doing something deeply embarrassing at the slightest provocation.

The boys both froze, eyes locking and then darting up to the door. It was locked, _technically,_ but in a house as old and well loved as theirs was, locks were more decorative than functional. Anyone with enough determination would be able to get in, and certain young inquisitive members of the family had been known to do so.

When nothing could be heard below, where Victor and Rosa were watching television with the younger members of the family, Billy gave Freddy a relieved, mischievous smile and relaxed back onto the pillow. Their bodies were curved together, each on their sides and facing each other. Their kisses were inexperienced and clumsy, but even hampered by the all too present awareness that at any moment their foster parents or siblings might interrupt them, they were enthusiastic.

They'd kissed before- had been kissing for weeks now, since Billy had discovered Freddy's private but poorly hidden erotic fanart of Batman and Superman and it hadn't taken a genius to figure out the one secret that Freddy had been keeping to himself. Fortunately Billy shared a similar secret. He wasn't entirely sure if Billy liked boys as much as he liked girls, or if it was just Freddy he liked- and frankly, he didn't care and didn't want to think about it too much. He didn't want to reach the conclusion that Billy was just experimenting with him because he lacked better options, as he privately feared.

Billy leaned in and pressed his lips to Freddy's again. It wasn't a very heavy kiss, for neither was very comfortable doing very much with their tongues in each other's mouths. That still felt weird and too intimate when they tried it, but Billy kept his hand on Freddy's waist, and that was very nice. Then Billy started stroking his thumb along Freddy's hipbone, and each time it dipped lower beneath the waistband of his jeans, tracing along the arc of the bone until it met the meat of his thigh. A deep shudder went up Freddy's spine and he gasped softly between them, their mouths so close that he seemed to draw the air right out of Billy's mouth.

“Billy,” he whispered, half plea and half warning. “I don't know if we should...” 

Freddy didn't want to say it; didn't want to be the first one to put the inevitability out there, that all the sweet and clumsy kisses they'd shared would eventually lead to something Freddy was both terrified of and electrified by. 

Billy looked startled and began to withdraw his hand. “I- sorry. I didn't mean-”

“No!” Freddy said, a little too loudly. He reached out and grabbed Billy's hand and drew it back to his hip. “No,” he repeated in a more moderate tone of voice. He placed Billy's whole hand against his lower abdomen, just below his belly button, and then covered it with his hand. “I do want to,” he said breathlessly. “I just don't know if we should.”

Billy looked confused by Freddy's mixed signals. “O-okay. Um. Why?”

Freddy huffed and looked up at the worn wooden slats of the mattress above them. His dick was throbbing in his pants, as though aching to escape and get at Billy, but he was doing his best to think with his head and not his hormones (or his heart, which between a longing to be loved and youthful exuberance was dangerously close to falling for Billy).

“Because your first time should be with someone you trust. Someone who cares about you and respects you.” And then, when Billy continued to look bewildered, Freddy blushed and shrugged. “I was eavesdropping when Rosa talked to Mary about sex a few years ago.” And yeah, most boys probably didn't care about shit like that, and Freddy wasn't entirely certain he did either, except maybe, yeah, he did a bit. Was it wrong to want that for himself too? 

“You don't trust me?” And, oh, oh no. Billy looked hurt, and Freddy wasn't being fair. Hadn't Billy proven himself trustworthy?

“No, I do!” Freddy said, now reaching out his other hand and drawing Billy closer, lest the boy try to pull away.

“You don't think I _respect_ you?” Billy said, now sounding both amused and exasperated.

“Well, no, that's not it...” Freddy sputtered, now really, really wishing he'd just kept his mouth shut. This conversation was only getting unbearably awkward, and for a boy who'd felt awkward his entire life, that was saying something.

But then Billy's eyes got wide and a trace of vulnerability crossed over his face before the mask of indifference that Freddy remembered from Billy's first few weeks at the Vasquez home took its place. “Oh. You don't care about me- like that.”

Sensing the tensing of muscles in Billy's formerly relaxed body that meant the other boy was going to roll off the bunk bed, Freddy panicked. “No!” he yelped, and grabbed Billy's shoulders and then rolled clumsily on top of him, to prevent him from leaving. A whuff of air escaped Billy in a gasp and he looked uncomfortable, but Freddy stayed sprawled over his chest. His cock was digging into Billy's hip and he was pretty sure Billy's was smashed under his thigh, but the suddenly serious turn of the conversation made it easier to ignore that.

“No,” he babbled, looking down intently at Billy, deeply into his eyes as he so rarely dared to. “I do, I completely do. You're like the Robin to my Batman. I care about you, like- like- I don't even know. I can't even think of anything to compare it to, that's how much.” Freddy knew he wasn't making sense and he was afraid the blush on his face might ignite the sheets, but Billy's troubled expression was clearing and a faint smile was tugging at the corners of his lips.

“Why am I Robin?” Billy said, but he was smiling wider now, obviously pleased by Freddy's words. Freddy thought that Billy might be blushing too and it was so adorable Freddy wanted to cry.

“It's just, I didn't think that...” Freddy bit his lip, not wanting to continue. He thought he might have been wrong. He'd worried Billy was just messing with him and he'd inevitably find someone hotter and cooler than Freddy to date once the novelty wore off. Billy was beautiful and street smart and an actual superhero, not crippled and socially awkward and probably not a real superhero anyway, probably more of a lame sidekick who'd be worthless without his siblings there to help him...

“But I do care about you,” Billy said, his voice a little small and compressed, as though he were having a hard time getting the words out. His arms came up from his side and he looped them around Freddy's back, as though he were just as concerned with keeping the other boy from running away as Freddy was. “You're my brother. 'Course I care.” 

Then Billy's eyes went wide, sensing his error. “B-but not like, in a brotherly way. More like in a, I want to do s-stuff with you way, and I can because we're brothers, but not like _brothers_ so it isn't really incest, you know?”

Freddy wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. “Wha- what?” he croaked.

Billy's arms were around him but he seemed to be looking at Freddy's ear instead of his eyes. “I- I mean, I really like you, Freddy. And not just because I want to- to- y'know- I mean, I do want to do that, like, for real. But like, cause you're awesome and you were my first real friend and you're the one person I know I will always be able to count on and you're... you're just cute, okay? But if you don't want to we don't have to. Just kissing you is the best thing I've ever done.”

Freddy thought the tears might be winning. His kinda boyfriend/ kinda brother was really, truly into him. 

Freddy smiled mistily. “Better than flying?”

“Well...”

Freddy laughed and rolled away. “Asshole,” he muttered, but when Billy's hand found his between their bodies and tangled their fingers together, he didn't pull away.


	2. Chapter 2

Freddy was standing casually by the window- or, at least, he was attempting casual. He had a Batman comic covering his entire face save one eye, which was trained on the sidewalk in front of the house watching Victor and Rosa escort Eugene, Darla and Pedro to their van to take them to their respective after school activities. Mary had evening classes on Mondays and Wednesdays and they were mere moments away from having the house to themselves for the first time in months.

“Would you quit it?” Billy hissed from the top bunk where he was pretending to be sick. His eye was a little red and irritated from one of Darla's pink markers they'd rubbed into it to make it look like he had an eye infection. Even Freddy could admit it was an elaborate ruse, but Rosa was not a woman easily fooled and had foiled his other attempts to be alone in the house with Billy. “You look you're plotting something again.”

Freddy rolled his eyes at Billy, but when he looked back Victor was indeed looking up at their window with narrowed eyes. He quickly brought the Batman comic back up. “I do not have a sneaky face,” he muttered from behind the pages.

“You totally do,” Billy said, but his voice was fond. “Idiot, it's too close to read. It's obvious you're hiding your face.”

“You're the one with pink marker in his eye,” he shot back. “Who's the sneaky one?”

Billy had pushed back the blankets and thrown his legs over the side of the top bunk, looking down at Freddy. “You put it there _and_ came up with the idea. Clearly, you're the sneaky one.”

“Hey,” Freddy said, and finally left the window. He grabbed Billy's legs with the arm not holding his crutch and pulled him until the boy's ass was only perching on the very edge of the mattress and he had to hastily grab the bed frame to keep his balance. “You weren't coming up with anything better. That makes me the _smart_ one. And you say you aren't the sidekick...”

Billy lifted a leg as though he were going to kick him, but Freddy wasn't concerned. He just hugged the leg against his chest and grinned up at him.

“You're the Evil Mastermind, maybe,” Billy said. “You're more Super Villain material.” Freddy just scoffed.

“Come on, then,” he said breathlessly. “Mary will be home in an hour.”

“Dude,” Billy said, jumping neatly down off the top bunk. The old wooden boards creaked when he landed heavily, but no one was below to shout up at them. “We're gonna last, like, five minutes, tops.” 

Standing in front of Freddy and looking fresh and so handsome, even with a pink eye and pillow rumpled hair, Freddy was suddenly struck with a case of nerves so crippling that his hands started sweating. They'd plotted and planned and dreamed of enough privacy to actually try something other than kissing, and now that the time had come every doubt he hadn't dared contemplate came rushing back to him. 

Freddy ran a hand through his curly hair, but when he shyly looked up he saw that Billy had his hands rammed down into his pockets and he was looking at Freddy's ear, something he only did when he was self-conscious. Their eyes met skittishly, and then they both chuckled nervously.

“Dude,” Billy said again, and Freddy nodded like he'd said something profound.

“I know,” he agreed. 

“I guess I'll just- um-” Billy said, and then he began to pull his shirt off, his movements jerky and unnatural. He balled up the fabric and then held it in front of his chest, as if Freddy hadn't seen his nipples a thousand times already. He didn't even have to look to see the crisp golden hair on his chest and abdomen or the little nicks and scars of a life spent in disreputable foster homes and on the streets. To Freddy it seemed like a man's chest, though, as Billy seemed to grow taller and broader every day, his body racing towards adulthood at what seemed like an alarming pace.

He made Freddy look short and shrimpy in comparison, and as Freddy reluctantly removed his own shirt to reveal his own thin, unimpressive torso he didn't dare look up. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Billy begin to pull off his sweat pants so Freddy followed him, working at the buttons of his jeans with one hand, feeling so off balance and uncertain that he had to hold onto his brace firmly. He struggled to get the jeans down over his hips, but when he caught sight of his crippled thigh he froze in horror. Billy had seen his deformed leg many times, but now it seemed stranger and more alien than ever. Having lived with the deformity all his life he rarely gave it more than a passing thought- to him it was normal, but imagining the person who was about to touch him seeing it, it suddenly seemed hideous.

“We- we could do this as, um, our superhero selves, if-if you wanted,” Freddy said, all in a rush. In the time since he'd gained the magic, he'd had very few occasions to transform again. Rosa had strictly forbidden it in the house, and after the danger they'd gotten in to, she and Victor had kept a much closer eye on the kids than ever before. There had been no skipping school or sneaking off after dinner. They'd had hardly any opportunities to experiment with their magic, much to his frustration.

“ _What?_ ” Billy said, sounding like he'd been punched in the gut. “What the fuck- why?”

Freddy still wasn't looking up from his leg. “Well, the superhero version of me is hotter," he said very quickly, as if saying it fast enough would take the sting out of it. "I mean, yours is too, it's not just me,” he added before Billy could bother protesting what was obvious. Although, Billy was looking more and more like his older, more muscular self, Freddy had to admit.

“Huh?” Only this time Billy's voice was more quiet, almost contemplative. Billy wasn't really stupid, no matter what Freddy sometimes insinuated. And then Billy was in his space, grabbing his arms and dislodging his hold on his brace. It fell away and clattered to the floor, loud enough to attract the attention of a sibling, had anyone else been in the house. Freddy felt immediately unstable, but Billy's tight grip on his biceps kept him supported. 

“You're fucking hot as you are, Freddy,” Billy said, his eyes warm and sincere.

Freddy began to say something- he didn't know what- but Billy shut him up with his mouth on his. The kiss was passionate and Billy's tongue touched his, invading it in a way that finally felt right and not weird like it always had before. Freddy opened his mouth to gasp and Billy took advantage of it, his own mouth open and their teeth clashing and noses rubbing together. It was sloppy and there was spit on his chin but it was _glorious._ Freddy brought his hands up and began to grasp whatever was in his path- Billy's shoulder and his bicep and even his lightly defined pectoral muscles. Experimentally he rubbed his fingers against Billy's nipples, the way they did in the porn that they'd stealthily viewed on their phones in the middle of the night. 

Billy groaned against Freddy's mouth and then the taller boy was shuffling Freddy over to the bed, almost dragging him as he was hobbled by the jeans around his thighs and his weak leg. Freddy just went with it, too caught up in the moment to think- until Billy tried to push him onto the mattress and Freddy hit his head on the wooden slat of the top bunk.

“Oh, shit!” Freddy cried, cradling the side of his head and flopping back against the mattress in shock. It hadn't really hurt very much, but the kiss had been so intense that the sudden dose of reality was disorienting.

Billy's expression of horror was priceless. He looked less like Shazam and more like the gangly teenager he was, with his eyes wide in dismay, his hands up as though he could take it all back, and his hard cock trying to drill a hole through the front of his wrinkly boxers.

Freddy giggled. When he couldn't seem to stop, he covered his face with his hands and rolled with laughter. 

“You _fuckhead!_ ” Billy yelled. “I thought I broke your stupid skull! How would I explain that to Rosa?”

“Just bruised, not broken,” Freddy snickered, peeking at Billy through his fingers. “Oh my god, that was perfect. I mean, A plus romantic gesture, man. Wow, I was really swept off my feet... right onto my ass.”

Billy sat down beside him and put his head in his hands. “Oh, fuck you. I don't even want to do this anymore.”

Freddy just cackled. He wasn't really in the mood anymore either, but that was okay. He had a whole list of backup plans to get them alone.


	3. Chapter 3

“And then she said that she liked Peter and was hoping he'd ask her on a date, and I said that we were way too young to start dating, but if we _were_ old enough we could go to Mcdonalds on a double date- and don't even think about asking who I would want to be my date- though if you really want to know I'll tell you. But then Peggy said that Mcdonalds wasn't fancy enough and we should- Are you even listening to me?”

“Huh? What? Yes, of course I'm listening!” Freddy sat up straighter abruptly from his drooping position on the couch, pushing his hair out of his face and stowing the comic book he'd secretly been reading down deeper into the sagging couch cushions so Darla wouldn't see. “You were going to go on a date to Mcdonalds- I mean, what? You're too young to date!”

Darla rolled her eyes dramatically. “That's what I just said,” Darla said, her voice pitying, as though sorry for his mental deficiencies. “Boys never listen,” she sighed, and then went back to fiddling with the pink and yellow plastic contraption on her lap. Freddy thought it might be some sort of manicure/torture device type of machine. It had lots of brightly colored stickers on it and smears of glittery paint. 

Rosa glanced up from the magazine she was reading in the shabby chair opposite the couch and smiled at them fondly before looking back down. 

Eugene was on the computer on the other end of the couch, Mary was on the floor with a pile of college textbooks around her and Pedro was lifting weights in the corner. Victor's snores from his easy chair filled in the pleasant background noise of the comfortable Friday evening in. 

Darla huffed again, drawing Freddy's attention back to her. “It's not working!” she complained and looked up at Freddy plaintively. “Can't you fix it, Freddy?”

Freddy hesitated. He was feeling warm and lazy on the couch and disinclined to get up, but one look at Darla's sweet, pleading face melted away his defenses. 

“Alright, brat,” he said, but grinned to show he wasn't annoyed. He took the thing from her and began to turn it over, poking and prodding and making a great show of examining all the working parts. He was pretty sure it just needed new batteries, but she didn't need to know it would be that easy. He'd been fixing Darla's toys for her for years, and there was a secret part of him that was proud she still went to him when she needed something. It was one of his favorite jobs, being a big brother.

“Let me go up and get a few tools,” he said thoughtfully and tried to hide his smile when Mary looked up from her studying and smirked at them, having caught on to his bullshit. “I think with a little surgery it should be as good as new.”

Freddy put out a hand imperiously and, grinning, Darla dove for the crutch he had a habit of tossing aside and held it out to him like she might present a sword to a knight.

“I shall return,” he said, and the hobbled off with as much grandeur as he could manage.

At the top of the stairs he walked down the hallway opposite his room, to the tiny storage closet that housed linens, toys, baseball bats, broken cellphones and chargers, toilet paper, cleats, knee pads- and every other little thing that otherwise didn't have a home in the busy household. At the very top was a little tool box where the batteries were kept. Freddy got up on his tip toes and grappled at the back of the shelf, trying to reach it. He'd just grabbed the corner and was pulling it off the shelf when the door furthest down the hallway opened. 

Freddy knew it was Billy, taking his scheduled shower for the evening (in a household with eight people and only two bathrooms, the bathroom schedule was very strictly adhered to), but he looked up anyway- and promptly dropped the toolbox.

Billy stood in the doorway of the bathroom, glistening wet and only barely covered by a towel around his hips. His brown hair was tousled and drops of water sparkled in his eyelashes, as though he'd only barely toweled off. Billy looked as surprised to see Freddy and froze as though he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't. They looked at each other, both with wide eyes.

Freddy couldn't speak for Billy, but as for himself he'd been struck by lust so strongly he felt wobbly with it. “Wh-where's your clothes?” he asked hoarsely, after he'd licked his dry lips and goggled at the boy for a little longer, because of course Freddy couldn't do anything without being the most awkward one in the vicinity.

Billy glanced down at this towel and flushed. He pulled the towel tighter around his waist. “I-uh, forgot them in the room. I thought everyone was downstairs and I could sneak back before anyone came up.”

It wasn't the first time Freddy had seen him naked- not even close to the first time. They'd shared a room for quite a while and they'd been making out whenever they could for months, but out of fear of being caught, they'd never been _naked_ together- that kind of naked. Naked with erections, that was to say.

Somehow, without his permission, Freddy found that he'd walked closer to the bathroom. The toolbox and the toy were forgotten on the hallway floor and it was probably a small miracle and pure instinct that he still had his brace.

“I could, um, get some clothes for you,” Freddy whispered, when he was close enough he could have leaned forward and licked a drop of water off of Billy's brown nipple. And, dear God, he _could_ lick that water off Billy's nipple. They were boyfriends and that was a thing they could do. In fact, Billy's nipple water suddenly seemed like nectar from the gods, and licking it would be the most perfect and wonderful thing that he'd ever done or ever even think about doing. 

The crutch fell on the floor.

“What the-” Billy gasped when Freddy's face more or less smashed into his chest and they stumbled backwards back into the bathroom, Freddy's last coherent though being to slam the door closed behind them. 

“I just want-” Freddy said, but his voice was cut off as his weak leg chose that moment to betray him and he crashed into him, being saved from a traumatic fall only by Billy's strong arms and better coordination. Billy caught Freddy around his waist and eased their fall as they tumbled backwards harmlessly onto the mat in front of the shower.

“What-” Billy tried again, but Freddy was just climbing him like squirrel up a tree, pressing kisses and licks to his chest, neck and then his face. The bathroom floor was a little messy and from this vantage point he had a graphic view of all the feminine hygiene products on the bottom shelf of the caddy by the toilet (Mary obviously preferred maximum absorption Tampax brand tampons, apparently- Freddy wished he didn't know that), but Freddy was far too horny to be put off by a less than ideal setting. 

“Freddy,” Billy said, this time the tone of his voice much warmer and less befuddled. The towel had fallen away and Billy was goddamn glorious as he lay sprawled on the floor, his young, toned body glistening with moisture and his chest heaving. His cock was half hard, as though it were willing but still a little confused. 

It wasn't the first time they'd had erections together, but with a layer of clothing and a healthy fear of detection between them, they'd never actually had an orgasm together, and Freddy was so excited by the possibility that he was a little afraid it would all be over before he'd even had a chance to get himself naked as well. 

“Yeah,” Freddy breathed, and tried to straddle Billy's hips and pull down his jeans at the same time- but found that it didn't work that way.

“Here,” Billy said eagerly, sitting up and maneuvering Freddy onto his knees so that he could help him. Billy ripped his hoodie and t-shirt off him and then clumsily began to work on his jeans. When he got the jeans down to his knees, however, he couldn't get them past where Freddy knelt of them. 

“Turn around,” Billy whispered and Freddy did as he was told, shuffling in a circle so that his back was to Billy. Billy grabbed the hem of Freddy's jeans and together they wrestled them off, none too gracefully. Freddy didn't even have time to worry about the sudden exposure of his deformed leg because Billy's heartfelt moan behind him put any fear he may have had to rest. 

“Oh, God,” Billy said breathlessly. “Your ass is fucking _sweet._ ”

Freddy grinned and looked back at Billy, who was indeed staring at Freddy's ass like he wanted to eat it. And oh god, Freddy had seen that in porn, and would he even like that? Would Billy? Wasn't it gross and unhygienic and if you got sick from it how did you explain to Rosa that it wasn't her tuna surprise casserole that made you hurl but your boyfriend's (or your kinda brother, depending on who you asked) ass cooties?

Billy walked on his knees closer, his thighs straddling Freddy's legs, until Freddy, shockingly, felt Billy's cock nudge up against his ass. Billy's dick didn't seem to be confused anymore, if the firm, slippery feeling of it against his ass was anything to go by.

“Billy, oh fuck,” Freddy said, and had to hastily grab his junk and give it a merciless squeeze to stave off the orgasm that threatened at just the feeling of Billy so near to him.

“Yeah,” Billy grunted, and grabbed Freddy around the waist, pulling him back against his chest. They knelt together on the bathroom rug, aligned perfectly, Freddy's back against his chest and his butt cradled against Billy's pelvis. Billy's dick was pressed against the upper curve of his ass and Freddy could almost swear he could feel it throbbing against his skin.

Freddy let his head fall back against Billy's shoulder and breathed heavily. Billy was gasping for breath too and when Freddy cut his eyes over at him he could see that Billy's face was scrunched up and his teeth were gritted.

“What?” he said, alarmed. “What's wrong?” Had he hurt him when they'd fallen? Oh jeeze, talk about a boner killer. If he'd hurt Billy-

“No,” Billy admitted through his teeth. “I'm trying not to come.”

Freddy laughed softly, his whole body shaking with it, and Billy let out a urgent noise. “Fred- no, stop moving-” Billy tried to warn him, but it seemed it was too late. Billy's hips jerked urgently against Freddy's back and then Freddy felt the warmth of his come splash against his skin as Billy let out a noise like he'd been punched in the gut.

That was enough to push Freddy's over the edge too. “Bill-Billy,” he groaned as he began to desperately strip his cock with his fist, probably breaking land speed records. His come seemed to bubble up from the bottoms of his feet, shooting out of his dick triumphantly and hitting the doorknob of the bathroom door as the door suddenly rattled with a knock. The unlocked doorknob of the family bathroom in their family home- _oh, holy Batman!_

“Freddy, are you in there?” Darla's concerned voice floated through the thin door. “Why is your crutch on the floor?”

Freddy's brain short circuited for a moment before rapidly coming back online. His orgasm still seemed to be frying his nerve endings, even as he screeched, “ _Don't come in!”_

He dove forward and plastered his jizzy hands on the bathroom door and threw his weight against it, in case Darla suddenly lost all her manners and tried to break the door down. Behind him Billy had scrambled to his feet and he came to lean against the door as well. It didn't make any sense, but neither did the come running down his ass crack. His life was insane.

Billy and Freddy exchanged worried looks, clearly thinking the same thing. How much had Darla heard? Would she know what she was hearing if she had heard them? It definitely wasn't the warm and tender afterglow he'd pictured for their first time together.

There was a long pause as Darla clearly seemed to puzzle through the evidence at hand. “Are you okay? Everything's on the floor out here.”

“I- uh- had... diarrhea. I mean, like, the explosive kind. I couldn't wait, had to drop everything and run.”

“Um, ew. And Billy's in there? I heard you say his name.”

Freddy hung his head in despair. Of course he'd said Billy's name _right_ when Darla had shown up. 

“I was in the shower,” Billy said. “I guess he couldn't wait. Surprised me too,” Billy said, much more cheerfully and smoothly than Freddy could have managed, but he silently gave Freddy a pointed, pissed off look. What? Like it had been all Freddy's fault? It wasn't his fault Billy had been standing there nearly naked, all wet and muscular and looking kinda like Aquaman. Or like Aquaman's scrawnier kid brother, maybe.

“I'll be down soon,” Freddy said desperately. “Go back downstairs and I'll fix your toy in just a minute.”

They both waited, with held breath, as they heard Darla grumble outside. “Make sure you scrub your hands for twenty full seconds,” she said, clearly no idiot and not entirely satisfied with the explanation she'd been given, and then finally walk back down the hallway.

Billy slumped back against the door and looked down at Freddy.

“We can't do that again,” he said, and Freddy's heart sank, surprising him that it could get any lower. His face must have shown his dismay because Billy crouched back down, bringing their faces level again. “Not like that,” he said, reaching out and touching Freddy's neck tenderly. “Just not here, where we could get caught. There's too many little ears. It's- it's not right. It's, like, disrespectful. Y'know, to everyone else in the family. To Rosa and Victor's trust.” 

Just as suddenly as Freddy's heart had been crushed, it soared again. Billy was blushing and looking at his ear, but Freddy kinda wanted to kiss every inch of his face. He knew Billy had hidden depths of sweetness, but it was always such a fucking awesome surprise when it showed itself. “I- yeah. I'm, uh, sorry for, like, jumping you.”

Billy's face got even redder, but he met Freddy's eyes and grinned a little. “It's awesome being jumped by you.”

And didn't that just make up for the ruined afterglow?


	4. Chapter 4

“Hey Freddy, you awake?” Billy called down softly. 

“Yeah,” Freddy replied. Hell yeah he'd been awake, replaying both the pleasure and the humiliation of the night. The feeling of Billy's hands on his hips and Billy's cock rubbing against his ass.... Freddy whimpered and dug the heel of his hand into his crotch, trying to tell his dick to stop knocking on the front door of his Superman underwear because _no one was going to answer_. That ship had sailed and already been sunk.

Billy shifted in the bunk above him and then he was climbing down the stairs and shoving Freddy aside so that he could slide into the bed beside him.

“What are you doing?” Freddy hissed, elbowing Billy back and trying to push him onto the floor. He clutched the blanket around his body tightly, as though he could protect himself from temptation. “You said we couldn't do that again.” And Freddy had agreed... at the time. Now, mere hours later, he was horny and weak again and Billy seriously needed to leave or else.

“We're not,” Billy said, wrestling the blanket away from Freddy so aggressively that all he managed to do was rip it off them entirely and fling it to the ground, leaving Freddy in all his glory, bare legs and Superman underwear exposed. Also, his cock, which was so erect and demanding of attention it might as well have been a third person in the bed. He fought the urge to cover his junk with his hands.

Oh well, whatever, Freddy could tell Billy was hard too, so no judgement from that corner, if you please. 

“Do you think I could make you come, just by talking to you?” Billy asked huskily, and Freddy felt a small movement close to his hip, as if Billy's pelvis had thrust just a little at the mere thought. As if he couldn't help it. And oh god, that thought was _hot_.

“Yes,” Freddy said emphatically. He was pretty sure that if Billy just looked at him in the right way it could make Freddy come. “Rosa and Victor would probably think someone was being murdered in here with all the moaning that would be going on though, so don't even try it.” Though, actually, considering Darla's room was next door she'd probably be the unfortunate eavesdropper again. A shudder of distaste made Freddy's toes curl and his dick shrink. 

Billy sighed heavily. “Yeah,” he agreed sadly. “Hey, do you think we're still virgins or did that count?”

Of course Billy would be thinking about that. “I don't know,” he said, trying to smother his smile. “There wasn't any actual penetration, so I don't know if it counts or not. But, I mean, who defines virginity anyway? Isn't that a hetero-normative way of thinking? There's probably plenty of gay dudes who never have butt sex, but they aren't virgins. And then there's lesbians, who-”

“Freddy!” Billy hissed. “Please, let's not talk about lesbians. This is already hard enough.”

“You mean you're already hard enough.”

“...Well, yes.”

It was miserable, in a way, to be aroused and aching with the one person he wanted most mere inches away and unable to do anything about it. But it was wonderful too, to have his warmth and presence beside him. Any time with Billy was thrilling, even when Billy was acting like a show-boating, self centered prick with a god complex.

Okay, maybe they weren't _always_ good times, but no one was perfect.

“Do you think you'd ever want to do that?” Freddy asked after a while, nerves fluttering in his stomach. “Do that, um, you know. Penetrative sex.” Freddy had certainly thought about it a time or two.... thousand. It sure seemed like they enjoyed it in the porn he'd watched on his phone.

“Like, having a dick in my ass?”

“Or the other way around,” Freddy said quickly, because Billy hadn't exactly sounded over the moon about the idea. “Uh, putting a dick in someone's ass. Maybe... my ass, for instance.”

“I knew what you meant,” Billy grumbled, but his hips shifted uncomfortably again, like Billy wanted to hump the mattress, which pretty much answered that question. “I mean... yeah, I'd want to do that. I don't know about, uh, the other way. I guess I'd have to think about it.”

Freddy turned his face to hide his smirk so Billy wouldn't see it in the moonlight streaming in through the window. If they ever had enough privacy to do anything other than lie next to each other in bed, Freddy would one hundred percent be on board with exploring the untold mysteries of their asses. 

When Freddy turned back to look at Billy, however, he noticed that Billy's eyes weren't on his face but were instead of his exposed legs. The moon was bright and it suddenly seemed glaring as it illuminated his limbs. Freddy felt his whole body stiffen and he breathed awkwardly beside him, trying his best to be casual.

It seemed a little strange to him that the conversation about his legs hadn't come up before. Most kids asked what was wrong with him before even asking his name (if they even bothered to do that), but Billy had never acted interested. 

“It's called Congenital Limb Defect,” Freddy said, trying to sound louder and stronger than he actually felt. He didn't have to look down to see what that particular blanket term meant for him because he'd been looking at and hating those legs his entire life, so he watched Billy's face instead. 

Billy was still looking at his legs, and Freddy fought to keep his limbs as straight as they would go when what they really wanted to do was curl up under him to escape his scrutiny. “That basically just means you're born with fucked up limbs. It's got lots of causes- sometimes something just goes wrong when the babies are getting cooked up, sometimes moms do stuff they shouldn't while they're pregnant.”

“Do you- um, know...?” Billy asked delicately. He didn't sound shocked or appalled, though. But then, he wouldn't. He'd been in the foster care system so long he'd no doubt seen all kinds of disabilities that could be attributed to their mother's bad habits.

Freddy shook his head. He'd wondered it himself many times, if his mother had been at fault for his deformity or if it had been pure mischance. “No idea. It was bad when I was born. The left one was the worst, obviously. The foot was all twisted up, facing the wrong way, and the bones were a lot shorter than the other leg. The right leg wasn't too bad, just a little underdeveloped. Could have been worse. I didn't have any deformities to my arms or any mental defects.”

Billy snorted. “That's debatable,” he muttered good-naturedly, and Freddy felt better for a moment before he felt Billy reach down and run a finger over the old, thin white scar that started at his knee and trailed down his calf. The muscle on his left leg was different and the length of the leg was noticeably shorter than the right one. The foot, despite many surgeries, was the worst of it. It had been straightened by surgery, but it still looked mangled to Freddy's critical eye.

“You had a lot of surgeries?” Billy asked, but he needn't have bothered- the red and white scars that covered his feet and legs on both sides told the whole story.

“Yes and no,” Freddy sighed, still not looking down at his legs or at Billy. “Too many and not enough. My mother didn't have any money when I was little I guess- well, truthfully I don't remember her very much. Maybe she was too high or drunk to bother. I don't know why I didn't get the surgeries I should have had when I was a younger. Maybe I was taken away from her because she wasn't taking care of me the way she should have. At any rate, it would have been better if I'd gotten the proper surgeries when I should have. It wasn't until I was put in foster care that I got the surgeries I needed, and then it wasn't like there were that many families lining up for a kid who was going to spend half his childhood in a hospital getting surgeries and recovering from them and then the other half in physical therapy, was there?”

Billy breathed beside him, his warm hand still on his leg. “It's fucked up,” Billy said after a while, though whether he referred to the deformity, Freddy's situation, the foster care system as a whole, or parents who had children they couldn't take care of, Freddy didn't know.

"But then Rosa and Victor took me and everything was better. It's really... good here," he said, because as bad as things had been at one time, that was how good they were now.

“Yeah," Billy agreed fervently, and they lay there and ruminated on the ways they'd been both unlucky and very fortunate. "You're still hot, Freddy,” Billy finally said, and Freddy dared a glance up at him. 

“You don't have to lie to me. I know my legs are fucking ugly. Good thing my face is gorgeous,” he said, playing off his insecurities as a joke, as he always did.

“Well your legs aren't pretty,” Billy said frankly, and Freddy's head whipped around in shock. He hadn't expected an outright truth like that, and it hurt. Maybe he'd wanted Billy to lie to him after all. “But neither is your hairy nut sack, and I think that's fucking hot too. You're just hot, Fred.” Billy shrugged, unconcerned, as if everyone had things about themselves they didn't like, and it wasn't that big of a deal.

And jeeze, maybe it was as simple as that. 

Freddy just sputtered, still staring at him in disbelief, even as a reluctant smile curled his lips up. “You insensitive _asshole,_ ” he said in awe. 

Billy grinned. “Your asshole's hot too.”

“Get your pimply ass out of my bed!” Freddy shrieked and began to shove Billy's giggling body towards the edge of the mattress, both of them laughing until someone, probably Victor or Rosa on their way to bed, knocked on their door in reminder that it was past time to be asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies to anyone reading this who knows more about Congential Limb Defect than I do, if I make any mistakes describing it. Maybe this is gratuitous, but considering I think it's reasonable that Freddy has insecurities about this, I wanted to somehow address this, since it's going to come up if they're getting nude frequently.... and they will, ha ha.


	5. Chapter 5

Billy was already waiting in the supply closet when Freddy clamored in, his brace making entirely too much noise as he clattered into the cramped closet. Billy's shoulders were hunched a little, as though the growth spurt he'd gone through made him somehow too tall for the little room, and his hoodie was pulled over his head. When Freddy lifted his eyebrows at him in question Billy just shrugged.

“Spiderwebs,” he said, which, yeah, that explained it. 

Freddy curled his lip in disgust, but took a step nearer Billy anyway, forcing the other boy to shuffle back a little until his back hit the large rolls of colorful paper the teachers used for projects and signs in the hallways. Behind that cans of paint were piled haphazardly on the built in shelves and in the corner an array of cast off brooms, mops and various cleaning implements leaned against the wall. 

It was also not a very well traveled part of the school, and since Freddy had swiped (borrowed! He had every intention of returning it) the Ag teacher's key, they were at least safe from discovery from other students.

Freddy tried to give every appearance of eager anticipation, but there was a knot of nerves roiling in his stomach, and Billy was either a lot more afraid of spiders than Freddy realized, or he was having doubts as well. He shuffled closer and Billy pulled his hands out of his pockets and put them around him anyway. He didn't smile, but his hands stroked Freddy's back soothingly, as they sometimes did they lay in bed talking and laughing quietly long after the house was abed.

“No one's going to come,” Freddy pointed out, for his sake as much as Billy's. 

Billy just shrugged. Since Billy had decided to accept the Vasquez family as his, he'd been a lot more reluctant to break rules or disappoint Rosa and Victor than before. 

“How long do we have?”

“Well...” Freddy considered the question. “If we both claim to have the runs, fifteen minutes, maybe? But we've used like four minutes of it getting here, so maybe ten, and let's be honest, we don't need even that long,” Freddy pointed out, and dropped his backpack and crutch on the floor.

Freddy wasn't as steady as he'd like without his crutch, but Billy supported him with his left arm, which was, damn. Embarrassing and sweet at the same time. 

“I guess we just...” Billy said nervously, then put a hand to the buttons on Freddy's jeans and began to try and get them open. 

Freddy did the same, his shaking hands pushing Billy's hoodie out of the way and scrambling at the front of his jeans. It wasn't easy to get the button undone from the wrong direction, but he managed and dove his hand down the front of Billy's boxers and grabbed his cock. The angle was weird and he was constricted by the wadded fabric around his arm, but judging by the noises Billy was making it wasn't all bad.

When Freddy began to awkwardly stroke him Billy gasped and abruptly stopped even trying to get Freddy's pants open. “Dude,” Freddy groaned. If his leg had been more stable he'd have been happy to just hump Billy's leg and be done with it, but if he hoped to stay on his feet that wasn't going to happen. “Don't leave me hanging!”

“Sorry, yeah,” Billy whispered and continued to struggle until he'd managed to pop the button open one handed and get his hand inside. He hadn't pulled Freddy's jeans down enough and his arm jammed at a very counterproductive angle, but Billy's hand was on his cock and that was more than enough. 

Or, at least it should have been. They grunted in each other's faces as they both tried to find some kind of position at which they could get any kind of satisfying rhythm. Billy got an elbow jammed in his stomach and their heads hit more than once as they shifted and strained. 

Freddy kept trying to arch into Billy's grasp, but that only put pressure on his legs and made him feel less stable, causing him to put more weight on Billy's arm around him until the other boy was wincing and panting as much from exertion as excitement. 

“How much time do you think we have?” Billy asked breathlessly, and Freddy squeezed his eyes shut, trying to concentrate on coming before they ran out of time and less about how much shit they'd be in if their teachers knew they were skipping. (And even more calamitous, _why_ they'd been skipping.)

“I- uh- I....” Freddy said. He wanted to scream with frustration. Billy's hand on him made it impossible to think, but it wasn't enough. He needed more pressure and rhythm and Billy didn't seem able to give it to him, and if Billy's pained expression was anything to go by, Freddy wasn't doing any better.

“Wait,” Billy said, and Freddy was almost relieved. “This isn't working. What if we just jack ourselves off?”

“Genius,” he said eagerly, and Billy withdrew his arm so he could shove his own jeans down to his thighs and get a grip on his thick cock. Freddy watched with an open mouth for a moment as Billy began to jerk it like an expert. Billy even did that thing where he fucked his dick into fist like he was imagining plunging it deep into Freddy's willing body...

“You too,” Billy whispered, and Freddy's brain started working again.

“Yeah, yeah,” Freddy said and shoved his jeans down. He grabbed himself and began to beat off almost aggressively, almost hurting himself, but so desperate he couldn't stop. His eyes were on Billy's cock and when he glanced up he saw that Billy was watching him too. “B-Billy,” Freddy cried, his movements frantic, and then he was coming, leaning heavily against Billy's arm around him.

“Freddy, baby, yessss,” Billy gritted out when he came a moment later, hanging on to Freddy so hard his fingers dug into his ribs with bruising force.

“Dude,” Freddy wheezed as they leaned against each other, breathing raggedly. “You called me baby? Is that something we're doing now?”

“Shut up,” Billy muttered and pushed Freddy away.

“Hey, Baby, did you bring any tissues?” Freddy asked, holding out his hand like it was covered in toxic slime instead of come. Of all the things he hadn't thought of... and gross, some of it was on his shoes too.

“You didn't?” Billy asked, his voice heavy with irony. “You always seem to think of everything. What kind of sidekick are you?” He grinned and then withdrew two crumpled tissues from his pocket. Freddy snatched one from him with a snarl.

**

“Okay, just stay cool,” Billy warned at the door of the closet. “If anyone's out there just act normal, okay? We can just say we were getting something for a teacher if anyone asks.”

“Yeah, sure, no problem,” Freddy reassured him, a little offended. Jeeze, it wasn't like he was a complete idiot. He knew what to do. “Just go, we're already late enough.”

Billy eased out of the closet, checked to make sure the coast was clear, and then gestured for Freddy to follow. 

“Hell yes,” Freddy said in satisfaction while Billy locked the door behind them with the Ag teacher's key. Things hadn't gone precisely to plan, but they'd both had orgasms and hadn't been caught. What more could he ask for, really?

“See you after school,” Billy said, and swayed towards him, almost as if he'd meant to kiss Freddy, before thinking better of it.

“Yeah,” Freddy said, smiling shyly while a fish flopped around in his stomach and his already unstable legs turned wobbly. “I'll just-”

His words were cut off by a shout at the far end of the hallway. “Hey! You! Yeah, you two!” Freddy watched in horror as Moran, the school security guard, came marching down the hallway with a scowl on his face. “What are you doing out here? Your teachers have been looking for you!”

And Freddy... lost his head a little. "C'mon Billy," he yelled, then took off in the other direction at a lurching run, his crutch pinwheeling.

“Dammit, Freddy!” he heard Billy groan before Freddy turned the corner and he was out of earshot.


	6. Chapter 6

“We look _incredibly_ shady right now,” Freddy said. “I'll freely admit that this time.”

He looked down at himself and then at Billy. Yeah, two teenagers standing in the misting rain, one on a crutch and the other with a hoodie pulled so far down you couldn't see his face, loitering outside a gas station. Nothing weird about that. He was kinda surprised no one had called the cops, but when he glanced nervously around, there was only the typical late afternoon Philly traffic. 

Billy just hunched deeper into his hoodie and miserably kept his eyes on the front of the corner gas station, waiting for the kids who'd gone in ten minutes ago to finally make their soda selection and leave. They'd been waiting over an hour for the gas station to empty and time was running out. Rosa and Victor would expect them home soon and if they were much later then they'd be sending out a search party. It was a wonderful thing, to have people that cared if you showed up on time... but it was also seriously cramping Freddy's sex life- or the sex life he sincerely hoped he and Billy were about to have.

“Hey, look,” Billy said, perking up beside him. “They're at the counter.”

Freddy squinted through the rain. “Huh,” he said. “Looks like they went with the Mountain Dew. I thought for sure it was going to be Dr. Pepper.”

“Nah,” Billy said loftily. “Clearly they were leaning towards one of the lighter, lemon-lime type sodas.” And, okay, fair. Billy had called Sprite, which was close enough.

“I don't know that you can really call Mountain Dew a lemon-lime soda...” Freddy argued, but mainly just as a point of pride. 

Billy just shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Just get ready, idiot. They're almost done and I don't see anyone else pulling in. Remember, in and out, four minutes tops. Easy.” 

“Right,” Freddy said smartly, and gripped his crutch in preparation. They'd gone over the plan in exacting detail- nothing should go wrong. 

He hoped.

The group of kids spilled out of the gas station, laughing, and at long last the store was empty.

“Go, go, go!” Billy said like a general giving orders to his troops.

They burst into the gas station and immediately headed in opposite directions. Freddy went straight for the candy aisle, filling the basket he'd grabbed at the door with the cheapest candy the gas station had- the nasty pieces of taffy in the twists of wax paper and the bags of disgusting tootsie rolls. When the basket had a decent covering of candy along the bottom Freddy headed back towards Billy, his eyes scanning the store. It was still empty- all according to plan.

“What are you doing?” Freddy hissed when he found Billy in the personal care aisle. The boy was holding two boxes and looking perplexed. “You're supposed to have picked them already.”

“Freddy,” Billy said, panic in his voice. “There are too many choices. What do I pick?”

Freddy looked from the boxes in his hands back to the intimidatingly large selection of condoms. “Uh...” he said, his eyes darting from one to the next. Ribbed for her pleasure, ultra thin, latex and non-latex, lubricated and non-lubricated, twisted, extended pleasure, fire and ice, bareskin...

“Ah!” he moaned in frustration. He didn't even know what most of that meant. He'd never dared linger on this section before and it suddenly seemed a fatal flaw in their plan to have not picked the type of condom before they came. “I don't know. What do you have?” 

Billy held them up and Freddy squinted at them. Immediately he knocked one of them out of Billy's hand, making it clatter to the floor. The gas station attendant glanced up disinterestedly then went back to staring at her phone. 

“I'm not a her!” Freddy snapped indignantly.

“It's ribbed, I thought that might, uh... okay, okay, no ribbed ones, jeeze.” Billy looked sheepish and red in the face.

Freddy snatched the other one Billy held and a bark of laughter exploded out of him. “Magnum XL!” he crowed. “I mean, let's be realistic here,” he said, and snatched a box of the regular size condoms off the shelf. He grabbed the lubricated value pack and stuffed it deep into the basket of candy to hide it. They'd just have to use the most generic looking one and hope for the best. 

“Dude,” Billy sputtered in outrage. “I'm big.”

Freddy couldn't help but grin, even nervous as he was. “Well, yeah, but you're not exactly a porn star, are you?”

Billy folded his arms and glared. “I'm bigger than _you,_ ” he pointed out, because they were teenage boys, so of course they'd measured and compared.

Freddy's smile dropped. “That's petty, Billy,” he muttered. “Just get the lube for fuck's sake and let's get out of here.” 

There weren't as many choices for lube as the condoms, so Billy was able to pick one with only a moment's deliberation. He stuffed it at the bottom of the basket under the candy and they made their way to the front. The gas station was still empty, so now they only had to deal with the judgment of the cashier. Freddy could feel his face burning with a blush and tried to remind himself people bought condoms every day. It wasn't anything to be embarrassed about.

Freddy placed the basket on the counter and waited. The cashier was still on her phone and hadn't even bothered to look up. Her fingers were flying over the keyboard, clearly sending off a text, and there was a scowl on her sullen face. The seconds ticked by and Billy and Freddy exchanged a desperate look.

Billy cleared his throat pointedly and the girl barely spared him a glance. “Just a sec,” she said in a flat tone and went back to texting.

Freddy shifted his weight uncomfortably and looked out the front door- and almost screamed. 

“Billy!” he whispered in a shrill voice. “It's Mrs Milligan.” 

Billy's face went white and his eyes grew wide. “No...” They stared in open mouthed horror as the old lady hobbled closer to the gas station, each step drawing them closer to doom.

Freddy looked back and forth between the cashier and Mrs Milligan, their sweet but incredibly nosy neighbor. If she found out about the condoms the entire neighborhood would know about it before the sun set.

Suddenly it all came down to the cashier and how much longer she would spend on her text. It needed to be just long enough for Mrs Milligan to greet the two boys and then go about her business. If the cashier checked them out fast enough then they were home free.

The bell above the door jingled and Mrs Milligan stepped through. She paused at the door to slowly shake the water off her umbrella and then she came inside fully and saw them. 

“Billy, Freddy!” she said with a big, friendly grin. She ambled over, in no particular hurry. Her large, white bouffant of hair was a little dampened by the rain, but her thick layer of makeup was hanging in there. Oh, and nice. She had her dentures in today. Must have been a special occasion. “What are you two boys up to?” 

Billy shot Freddy one of those _just let me do the talking_ looks and then he turned on his fake smile, the one he used to charm adults. Freddy had tried that smile before, but he'd been informed by pretty much everyone that he should never, ever, make that facial expression again. “Just picking up some snacks for the kids,” Billy said smoothly. 

Mrs Milligan shuffled closer, her eyes now turning to the basket on the counter and Freddy felt sweat break out over his forehead. Oh please, please, please, if there was a God in heaven, let him intervene on the behalf of two poor horny teenage boys who were just trying to do the right thing and practice safe sex. They should seriously get a break for that, right? Karma should be on their side.

Freddy threw a tortured look to the basket, and had to hang onto his crutch hard as his legs grew weak. The candy covered the lube and condoms- mostly. One corner of the condom box stuck up through the blanket of candy. All that could be seen was _36ct Val-_ , but it definitely didn't look like a candy box.

“Oh,” Mrs Milligan said in delight and reached into the basket to grab one of the bags of taffy. Both Billy and Freddy sucked in a breath as the condom box was exposed just a little more. It now clearly said _36ct Value Pack,_ but fortunately the brand name was on the top of the box and wasn't as easily seen. “I used to love taffy,” she said then bared her teeth in something that approximated a grin. “But my dentures don't.” She shook her head sadly but dropped the candy back in, covering the box of condoms fully. Freddy let out a relieved breath.

Mrs Milligan exchanged a few more pleasantries with Billy since Freddy couldn't speak, and then the old lady hobbled off in to the store to get her items.

“Please, we're in a hurry,” Billy said urgently when Mrs Milligan was out of earshot, and the cashier rolled her eyes and huffed.

“Fine,” she snapped and began to slowly check each of the items out. It seemed to take forever, but when the girl rang up the condoms and lube she didn't even bat an eye, acting as uninterested as if she'd been ringing up toilet paper. 

The last item was put in the bag and the total popped up on the screen. “ _Sixty-two dollars!?_ ” Freddy said in dismay. They only had forty. Why the hell were condoms and lube so damn expensive anyway? 

“Oh dear,” Mrs Milligan tittered behind them as she walked up to the register. “Didn't bring enough? I'd help you out but I only brought enough for this,” she said and lifted the pile of canned cat food she had in her basket to show them she'd just dashed in to the corner gas station for a quick cat supply run.

Billy was rapidly counting through their money again, as if he hoped somehow it had multiplied when he wasn't looking, when the cashier sighed again in annoyance.

“Do you want to put some of it back? If you put all the candy back the condoms and lube would only be thirty dollars.” 

Billy and Freddy froze as behind them Mrs Milligan burst out into hearty giggles with an occasional snort thrown in to demonstrate the true hilarity of the situation. For her, anyway... 

Freddy couldn't even speak. Humiliation had opened its jaws and swallowed him whole. After a moment Billy said in a very small, defeated sort of voice, “Uh, yeah. You can, um, do that.”

Freddy hung his head in despair as Billy finished paying for the illicit purchase and the cashier handed them their bag.

The cashier from hell wasn't done with them yet, though, oh no. She looked at the two of them, gave them an obviously unimpressed once over and then curled her lip. “Don't forget those expire,” she said. 

Freddy could almost taste the judgment in the air. The taste was bitter.

He was too disheartened to even think of a witty reply.

“Yes, ma'am,” Billy muttered and they said goodbye to Mrs Milligan, who was still chuckling and actually wiping tears out of her eyes, and they trudged out of the store.

The walk back to their house was a quiet one. At the door, however, Billy stopped Freddy. “Wait,” he said, and his jaw was firming and his shoulders were straightening. “We're gonna have to tell Victor and Rosa, but that's okay. We probably should have told them ages ago.”

Freddy looked at him, wide eyed. “Uh... we should have?”

Billy nodded firmly. “Yeah, we should have. They've earned our trust, haven't they? Everything will be fine.”

And just like that, the sun broke out from behind the rain clouds. “Yeah, you're right,” he said, smiling a little. “What the hell have we been so afraid of? Victor and Rosa love us.”

Something vulnerable flickered in Billy's eyes, but he smiled back after a moment's hesitation. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Let's stash the condoms and tell the family.”


	7. Chapter 7

If you'd asked if Freddy was nervous about telling his foster parents or siblings about his sexuality a year ago, he'd have scoffed and claimed he didn't doubt them at all. And, he didn't. Really, he was almost entirely certain that they would be nothing but loving and accepting.

And yet... well, it was just that he'd been with Victor and Rosa for years, and doing anything that might in any way whatsoever possibly fuck up his position in the family was terrifying in a way only someone who knew what it was to be unloved and unwanted could understand. 

Whether Billy felt the same or whether he could simply tell how afraid Freddy secretly was, he didn't know. When they sat down to dinner and piled their hands on top of each other, however, Billy grabbed Freddy's hand at the bottom of the stack and held it across the table, even after everyone else had parted and sat down, their attentions immediately going to the big plate of lasagna in the middle of the table and the various side dishes.

“It will be okay,” Billy mouthed at him from across the table, and then he turned to the group. “Uh, guys? Freddy and I have something to tell you.”

Rather anti-climatically, no one even noticed he'd spoken.

“Pass the peas, please!” Eugene shouted and gleefully chortled at his own little bit of alliteration, and Pedro leaned across the table to pass the bowl. Meanwhile Darla ducked under Pedro's arm and grabbed her plate of tofu and dragged it towards her while loudly proclaiming its deliciousness, as though she could convince the rest of the family of what they were missing out on. Mary was carefully cutting the lasagna and plating it for the younger kids, like the little mother she was, and Victor and Rosa were passing out last minute napkins and silverware to the crew, ducking in and around kids and laughing, never happier than amongst a big, messy table of children.

Billy shot Freddy a exasperated look and clutched his hand harder across the table. Freddy felt a little giddy with nerves and guilt and was honestly shocked the others couldn't _smell_ it on him the way dogs could smell fear. It would probably smell like hormones and latex.

“Um,” Billy said a little louder. “We need to tell you guys something.” 

Rosa blinked and focused on them. “Oh, you haven't gotten your food yet,” she said when she finally looked at them, and stood immediately to help them, as she would have the younger children.

“Aren't you hungry? Do you feel okay?” Victor asked, his forehead creasing. Beside Billy Darla got up on her knees on her seat and put her hand to Billy's forehead, testing for a fever, a look of deep concern on her face. 

“He's a little warm,” she announced gravely, as though pronouncing a cancer diagnosis.

“No, that's not it,” Billy said, his voice now a bit impatient. He gave Darla a little smile, but gently pulled her hand away from his forehead with his free hand. “It's just, something happened, and-”

“What?” Victor interrupted, now sounding truly alarmed, obviously interpreting Billy's nervousness as something more serious. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“Do we get to be superheroes again?” Eugene asked, not even trying to hide his excitement. Freddy was sure that he was really worried, deep down.

“You can count on us,” Pedro said solemnly, and, having made his nightly verbal offering, settled back down into comfortable silence.

“No, I- It's not like, anything life threatening, you don't have to worry-” Billy said, beginning to sound flustered.

“Don't worry!” Rosa repeated disbelievingly, looking ready to go into battle if need be to protect her children. “That's like saying that I actually really need to worry. What is going on?”

“I'm gay!” Freddy yelled, only realizing what he was doing once the words had cut through the various voices and reverberated off the walls and then rolled right back to smack him in the face. Freddy was just smooth like that.

Billy bugged his eyes out at him in disbelief.

Rosa had stilled half way out of her seat, her face frozen in shock. Her face was mirrored across the table. Even Pedro looked mildly surprised.

“What's gay?” Darla asked in the sudden, unexpected silence.

Mary was still staring at Freddy with an open mouth, but she slowly turned to Darla. “That's when, uh, two boys really like each other. Or two girls.”

Darla looked perplexed. Was it seriously possible she didn't know what gay meant? Holy hell, kudos to Victor and Rosa for sheltering her as well as they had.

“Like I like Cinda?” she asked doubtfully. “Am I gay?”

Freddy chuckled nervously, and then couldn't stop. “I don't know- maybe,” he said in between giggles. “Do you ever want to kiss Cinda?”

Darla's eyes went wide and her mouth formed a perfect 'o' of astonishment. “No!” she squealed. “Yuck!”

Freddy laughed harder, and then Rosa was out of her seat and coming around to him, her arms out.

“Oh, baby, thank you so much for trusting us enough to tell us that. I'm so proud of you,” she said, and wrapped her arms around him, pressing his head to her chest and squeezing him tight. Freddy was pretty sure his head was pillowed on her boobs and at another time he'd have been mortified, but now it was all he could do to keep from crying. 

And then, oh god, just shoot him now, Victor was hugging him from the other side, his arms beefy and his belly soft against Freddy's back, like the big, warm teddy bear he was. He pulled both Freddy and Rosa close and held them. “That was really brave, Freddy,” Victor said, his eyes so warm and sincere that Freddy lost his fight with his tears.

“I love you too Freddy!” Darla shouted and ran around the table to add her own body to the pile. She probably still didn't really understand, but she wasn't going to miss out on a family hug, no way.

Mary and Eugene followed, and when Freddy opened his teary eyes he saw that Pedro had his fist held up, a passive little smile on his face, as though he weren't even remotely bothered. Freddy grinned and squirmed his arm out of the family pile to bump their fists together.

The only one who hadn't joined in was Billy, who was sitting across the table and looking somehow both pleased for Freddy and left out at the same time.

“Guys?” Freddy said from where his face was smashed against Eugene's shoulder. “Um, that wasn't actually what I meant to tell you.”

They backed off to give him some space, and Freddy reached across to grab the hand he'd dropped when Rosa had hugged him. Billy gripped his hand back and then visibly straightened his back and looked at Victor and Rosa.

“Freddy and I are boyfriends,” Billy said, his voice only a little tremulous. “I'm not gay, I, um, like both boys and girls.” Then he looked across the table at Freddy, holding his gaze. His brown eyes were steady and true. “But I really, really like Freddy.”

And oh Jesus, who cut the onion, because that was the only explanation for the amount of tears that Freddy was shedding. He was a man, dammit! This was disgraceful. This was... this was... the most romantic and embarrassing thing he could have possibly imagined. How was this his life? What had he done in a past life to deserve this much love and happiness?

Once again, Darla was the one to break the stunned silence. “Ooooh,” she said, with the voice of someone who's discovered the answer to a particularly troublesome mystery. “That's what you were doing in the bathroom! You were kissing! I knew you were fibbing about being sick because I take my shower right after Billy's and the bathroom wasn't stinky. You could have just told me, you know, I can keep secrets!”

Freddy dropped his head into his hand and sighed. From the heights of joy back down to the depths of humiliation. He took it all back. His life sucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be busy this weekend (Avengers and Game of Thrones, ya know) so may not update until Sunday or later, so even though this is a short chapter I thought I'd go ahead and upload it before going away. Hope you enjoy it. 
> 
> I feel like I've under utilized the Vasquez family so far and I need to rectify it because they really are delightful.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warning: brief mentions and description of childhood sexual abuse. If you don't want to read it stop after the two stars (**) and you won't miss much. If you want more information before reading just ask in the comments.

Everything had seemed so easy and simple for three days after he and Freddy had dropped the rainbow colored bombshell. Their siblings were fully supportive, even if they did make a few bad jokes and tease them mercilessly. Victor and Rosa smiled at them and gave them random hugs, as if they needed to remind them occasionally that they were loved and that everything would be okay.

Therefore, Freddy wasn't really expecting to be ambushed Friday night by Victor after dinner. If Freddy had secretly thought he'd gotten off too easy the other night- well, he'd been damn right to be suspicious. 

“C'mon back, guys,” Victor said after dinner Friday night while Rosa pointedly ushered the other siblings into the living room, a secret smirk on her face. “We need to have a man's talk.”

“Uh,” Billy said, glancing at Freddy. Even though Billy had been with the family for a while now, there were times where he was still uncertain of his place in the family and he looked to Freddy for guidance.

“Why?” Freddy asked, narrowing his eyes at his foster father. Victor had a peaceful smile on his round face, sorta like a hot Buddha. Freddy crossed his arms, unimpressed. “I don't trust that look.”

Victor, if possible, looked even more innocent. “I really have no idea what you mean. We just need to have a chat about healthy choices.”

“Oh my god, not this again!” Freddy cried in agony. “We had this talk, like, four years ago!” 

Victor dropped his look of saintliness and his inner amusement showed in his grin. “Yeah, well, clearly I left some things out, so unless you want all your siblings hearing this too, we're heading back to the bedroom for some privacy.”

“What is it?” Billy asked nervously.

“The sex talk,” Freddy groaned, but when Victor started walking back to he and Rosa's bedroom he gloomily followed, Billy at his heels.

“Um, we already know about sex,” Billy said in a low voice as they walked down the hallway towards the downstairs bedroom, passing pictures in shabby mismatched frames of the kids in various sports and school activities.

Victor just grinned back at him, and held the door open for them to pass inside. 

“This is terrible,” Freddy complained. “This is what the internet for, so you don't have to have embarrassing sex talks with your parents.”

“Hey,” Victor protested. “Learning about safe sex isn't just an embarrassing ordeal, you know. This is life saving information I'm about to impart to you, and I'd be lax in my duties as an awesome foster dad if I didn't do it. Plus, Rosa would have my balls,” he said, and lifted a shoulder as if to say, 'what can you do?'

Freddy sighed heavily and flopped down onto the bed. Rosa and Victor's room wasn't that much larger than any of the kid's rooms, but they at least had a private bathroom and queen sized bed. Without permission his thoughts wandered to Rosa and Victor in bed, which- yuck. He hated the way his mind sometimes betrayed him by sneaking in a horrible sexual image like that, as if he didn't have enough problems already.

“C'mon,” he said, and grabbed Billy's hand to pull him down next to him. He could tell Billy was nervous, probably even more than Freddy was, who'd been blessed with one sex talk already when Victor had explained in horrifying detail all the changes his body was about to go through and what they meant.

Victor grabbed a cardboard box off of the bedside table on his side and pulled a chair from Rosa's vanity to sit across from them.

“So, let me get this out of the way first. It's my duty as a parent to advise you that it's really not a bad idea to wait to have sex until you're 18 or even older. I know, I know, that's kinda lame, but look at it this way: while your bodies may be sexually mature enough for sex, to be honest you may not be emotionally ready. You also may not really realize that until you're older. I'd really hate for either of you to have regrets, you know?”

Freddy groaned and put his hand over his eyes, but not before he saw Billy give him a worried glance, as if he might accidentally have already damaged Freddy's psyche.

“Chill out,” Victor said and gently pushed Freddy's hands away from his eyes. “I'm not here to judge, either. It's your body and you get to make your own choices about it. No one is allowed to pressure you into anything,” he said, and gave them both a serious look. “And you're not allowed to pressure anyone else into anything. That's the cardinal rule of this talk. 'No' doesn't mean try harder, it means no.”

“We wouldn't!” Billy gasped, appalled. “That's seriously not cool.”

“We already know this,” Freddy muttered. 

Victor smiled at them, and Freddy knew that he'd never doubted them. “I know you wouldn't. You're good kids. The best.”

And okay. Maybe Victor wasn't all bad.

“Okay,” Victor said, and picked up the cardboard box off the floor. “So, I'm not foolish enough to tell you not to have sex, I'm just going to teach you how to do it safely.”

“We already-” Freddy began, and Billy stomped on his foot. “Ow!” Freddy gasped, and glared at his soon to be ex-boyfriend. “I was just going to say we already know about safe sex,” he said, rubbing his foot. “Not that we'd already had sex, jeeze.”

“You're literally an idiot, Freddy,” Billy said, his face red and perspiring a little. “The smartest idiot I know, but still.”

Victor shook his head, obviously doing his best to smother his laughter. “Yeah, he's brilliant but he's never had the best brain to mouth filter,” he agreed. 

“As I was saying...” Victor continued over Freddy's sputtering. He opened the box and withdrew two small, rectangular plastic boxes. They were luridly decorated with images of women in lingerie and in the middle had a picture of a- _oh no, please no._

“You did not just buy us dildos,” Billy said flatly, when Freddy opened his mouth and found he had no words at all.

“Of course not,” Victor said. “This is for sex education purposes only, to show you the correct way to put on a condom. Of course, they're single use education aides. I won't need them back.” And then he winked at them. _Winked_ at them. “This might be a good time to mention that masturbation is the safest form of sex you can engage in, and the best way to understand your own body. Hard to be a good lover if you don't know what you yourself like.”

“I want to die,” Freddy said when Victor handed them the boxes and indicated they should open them. With trembling fingers Freddy opened the box and reached in to touch- the thing. Despite the colorfulness of the box, the dildo itself was fairly plain. It was about the size of his own penis, but it was a sky blue color and the plastic was a little shimmery. The texture was firm yet giving, and it was a little sticky- silicone, probably. It had a straight shaft with no ridges or bumps and it had a wide base, making it safe for anal sex. Which was... probably not a coincidence. 

Victor reached back into the cardboard box and pulled out a roll of condoms, making Freddy think of the stash he and Billy had hidden in their room. Victor tore off two of the condoms and then handed them to the boys.

“Okay, first, you always tear the package with your fingers, don't cut it or try to impress someone and tear it with your teeth. You don't want to risk tearing the condom on accident,” Victor said, and demonstrated with a third condom.

**

It was, well, not as horrible as Freddy had thought it would be. Once Freddy got past his embarrassment, he found that perhaps he hadn't known as much as he'd thought he had. And, once he gathered enough courage to ask questions, he found Victor to the perfect educator. He was easy going and non-judgmental and didn't act like any of Freddy or Billy's questions were silly, even if some of them probably were. 

He talked to them about not only gay sex, but straight sex, and assured both of them that it was okay to be curious or confused, and that it was okay to not even really know what they liked. Sexuality was a lot more complex that just gay, straight or bi, Victor had told them, and that was just part of life. As long as everyone involved was safe and consenting, experimentation and exploration was normal. 

However, when Billy thought they were done, Victor went to the bedroom door and called for Rosa.

Billy and Freddy exchanged panicked looks, instantly embarrassed again. Freddy realized he was still holding his dildo around the shaft and practically threw it back in the box and then stuffed it under the blanket before Rosa came in.

“Hey guys,” Rosa said, and though her own cheeks were a little pink, she pulled up a chair and sat opposite the bed beside her husband. “Do either of you have any questions, from a woman's point of view?” she asked. “You don't have to be embarrassed to ask anything. It's perfectly normal to be curious.”

Billy glanced sideways at Freddy, then quickly shook his head, much to Freddy's relief.

“That's okay,” Rosa assured them. “If you think of anything, just let me know.”

Rosa and Victor exchanged a look, and Victor took his wife's hand, as if to comfort her, putting Freddy instantly on alert again. “We've talked it over, and we've decided that for the time being the two of you will continue to share a room,” Victor said. “We're going to put our trust in you that will not have sex in the house if there is any danger you will be seen or overheard.” 

Nothing had been said about their living arrangements, and Freddy had assumed that Victor and Rosa trusted them enough to let them stay together. The fact that they'd discussed it made him feel uncomfortable and automatically guilty for that one lapse in judgment.

“We haven't-” Billy began, but Rosa held up a hand to stop him.

“It's okay, just let me explain first, okay?” Rosa leaned forward and looked at the two boys earnestly while Victor put an arm around her back. “Guys, it's really important that you not expose your siblings to any sort of sexual behavior. And, I'm not just saying that to cramp your style, okay? You know that I was raised in the foster system too, right? Well, not every foster family is... ideal. I was with a family who had a teenage son. He had some problems, and when I was eight years old he would have sex with his girlfriend and he... well, he forced me stay and watch and threatened me so that I wouldn't tell anyone. He never touched me, and I was placed in another home soon after, but the damage had already been done.”

Billy let out an involuntary gasp of dismay and Freddy reached down to grasp his hand between them. He wasn't surprised, really, but it wasn't any the less horrible for hearing it aloud. His heart hurt for the only woman he'd ever known as a mother. 

“I'm okay now, but for a long time I had bad feelings about sex. I know neither of you would do what he did, but if the younger kids ever accidentally walked in on something they shouldn't, you really don't know what kind of long term ramifications it might have. So, we're putting our trust in you to protect your siblings. We can count on you, can't we?”

“Yes,” Billy said vehemently and Freddy nodded frantically. Never, never, never again.

“We, uh- haven't exactly, just kissing, except once, in the bathroom-” Billy confessed, his face down turned in misery. Freddy thought he might even cry, and he put his arm around Billy's trembling back, much as Victor comforted Rosa. “I'm really sorry, it just got out of hand, and then Darla heard us talking in the bathroom. Darla thinks we were kissing in there. But we will _never_ do that again, I swear. You- you don't have to separate us or send me away, or- ” 

“I'm so sorry, Billy, it was my fault,” Freddy told him, putting his other arm around him and hugging him. Billy really seemed to think Victor and Rosa would send him away and Freddy realized just how insecure Billy still felt his position in the family was. “Billy told me no after that,” he told Rosa, looking straight into her eyes so she could see how serious and sincere he was. “He said we couldn't do that again with the kids in the house. He's so goddamn noble sometimes, you wouldn't believe it.”

Billy shook his head and clutched Freddy back. "It wasn't your fault. I could have said no too."

Rosa looked teary eyed too, and she sprang out of her seat and descended on the boys, gathering them up into a tight hug. “I know, it's okay, it's okay,” she soothed. “You're not going anywhere, Billy. Your ours now and we're keeping you. There was no harm done. Everything is fine. Everything will be fine.” 

Billy was hiccuping a little and fighting back tears, and Freddy just held him, feeling so sorry he'd put Billy in the position that there was anything to confess that he felt sick. 

He guessed Victor was right. There really were consequences to sex. He caught Victor's eye and the older man just gave him a small, sad smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, this chapter ended up being a whole lot more somber than I originally intended. But, at the same time, these are things that happen to people, unfortunately, and I don't think Rosa and Victor would be the type to lay down a strict rule without giving a good reason for it. 
> 
> Things will be going back to the original light and fluffy programming soon, I promise.


	9. Chapter 9

“I can hear you up there, you know,” Freddy said and stared up at the slats of the bunk bed above him. All the lights were off, but moonlight filtered through the window, illuminating the dim space. 

“I'm not making any noises.”

“The lack of noise is making it seriously difficult to get to sleep. Usually you're snoring and farting by now.”

Billy huffed out what sounded like a reluctant laugh. “Wrong. That's you, Mr Pass Me The Beans, Please.”

Freddy just grumbled and brought up a foot to give the bottom of the bunk a kick. Another night that would have been more than enough provocation for Billy to swing off the top bunk and jump on Freddy, but tonight Billy just rolled over on the bed, the slats squeaking, and didn't respond.

Freddy lay in silence for a while, but when it was clear Billy was not going to sleep either he sighed and threw his blankets off his legs, revealing Wonder Woman pajamas. He didn't always wear pajamas, especially in the warmer months, but with the way things had been lately, well... he hadn't felt as comfortable with his vulnerabilities being on display. 

Freddy rolled out of bed and then began to climb the stair slats to take him up to the top bunk. He couldn't climb the stairs as easily as Billy could and didn't make the trek very often. Billy had been avoiding him for days, however, so what choice did he have but to force a confrontation?

“We need to talk,” Freddy said at the top of the stairs, and then clamored in beside Billy. Billy watched him warily and kept his arms wrapped around his pillow, keeping a barrier between them. It put Freddy on guard as well, and he kept to the edge of the bed, so that no part of them was touching.

“You've been weird ever since that talk with Victor and Rosa. Are you still mad at me?” 

Billy had his eyebrows lifted, as though even he hadn't expected Freddy to be so direct. “I wasn't mad at you.”

“Look, I'm sorry I jumped you!” Freddy cried, voice a little shrill. “You were just, like, so fucking hot and naked and I can only resist so much temptation.”

Billy groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. “Freddy, I'm not mad, I just... think that maybe we should just stop and think about what we're doing. Maybe we shouldn't...” But Billy's voice trailed off and he didn't look at Freddy, choosing instead to watch the way Freddy nervously twisted the hem of his t-shirt.

“Shouldn't what?” Freddy whispered.

“Maybe we shouldn't do this anymore,” Billy said, and Freddy found out what it meant in books when authors wrote about character's hearts plummeting. He gasped sharply at Billy's words and Billy rushed on. “I mean, we've got the superhero thing, and school and Pedro and I are starting baseball soon, and all the little kids, and- it's just, a lot, and maybe this isn't a good time for... that.”

“For that,” Freddy repeated, not really recognizing the flat, wooden tone of his voice.

Billy wasn't even pretending to look at him anymore. He was staring up at the ceiling, looking as miserable as Freddy felt.

“Billy,” Freddy said, trying his best to not let his rising panic be heard in his voice. “I- never meant to be pushy,” he said, hoping he never had been, but now he wasn't so sure. Hadn't all the plans been his; all the moves been at his instigation? Had he misread Billy's interest all along? Because if Billy was as into Freddy as Freddy was into him, he wouldn't be saying these things. “We won't ever do anything at home again. I didn't really mean I couldn't help myself, I do have some self control.” At least, he certainly could, if he had to.

Billy still wasn't speaking so Freddy leaned up on an elbow so he could try to meet his eyes. “We'll do whatever you want,” he said. “We can take a break for a while, until we can figure out a way to have more privacy.”

“What if... what if I think we should just be friends again?”

Freddy gasped, somehow shocked despite that being the obvious direction the conversation had been going in. “Billy,” he whispered, unable to even come with an argument to change his mind.

“We should do what's best for the family,” Billy said, his voice far from firm. 

“Billy, they're not going to throw you out!” Freddy practically yelled. “Is that what this about? They wouldn't do that unless you were a danger to the other kids or something, and obviously you aren't.”

“Well that's easy for you to say, isn't it? You've been here for years. I'm the new guy.” 

Freddy groaned in frustration, feeling a little like kicking Billy's ass and a lot like he was losing one of the best things he'd ever had. “Look, do you want to talk to Rosa and Victor? They do not care. They're happy for us. They bought us matching dildos, for God's sake! If that isn't a heartfelt 'congratulations, you're into each other,' I don't know what is.”

Billy huffed and twisted his shoulder so that Freddy's hand fell off of him. “That was a sex education tool,” Billy muttered.

“Sure, tell yourself that if it helps you sleep at night,” Freddy said, desperately falling back on sarcasm as his last defense. 

“You're my best friend, Freddy,” Billy just said, and Freddy wasn't stupid, okay? He got what Billy was saying. Their friendship was more important than the other things that obviously had been more one sided than Freddy had realized. 

Suddenly Freddy couldn't be there anymore. He sat up, looked at the narrow bunk bed stairs and thought about how humiliating it would be to slowly climb back down them, each fumble and misstep so obvious in the awkward silence. Instead he untangled himself from Billy's sheets and impulsively rolled off the edge of the bunk bed instead. He landed on his feet -just barely- with a poorly concealed groan as pain shot up his feet, zinged his knees and blasted his chronically sore left hip in a way he knew he'd feel for days. 

“Freddy!” Billy yelled and rolled to the edge, looking over, his eyes wide and his face white in the moonlight

“I'm fine,” Freddy growled, even though he wasn't, and then hobbled into his bed and pulled the blankets over his head. He wouldn't cry. He was _not_ going to cry. He would retain some dignity- even if it killed him. 

From within his cocoon of covers he heard Billy jump much more gracefully off the top bunk and then Billy was climbing into bed beside him and all by throwing himself on top of Freddy's huddled body. Billy's arms still felt so right around him and it was all Freddy could do to keep himself from leaning back into his embrace. Billy pulled the blanket down to his shoulders and Freddy sniffed and rubbed his face, so Billy wouldn't see the tears he wasn't crying.

“Freddy, please,” Billy pleaded, his face tucking up against Freddy's neck so that he could feel his lips moving against his skin. 

“It's okay, Billy. You're still my best friend too,” he said, because it was true. Billy was the best friend he'd ever had, and he didn't want to lose that.

But Billy was shaking his head, his face moving against Freddy's neck. “Freddy, I don't know why I said those things. I just want to do what's right, but I don't want to break up with you.”

Freddy's breath caught in his throat. He turned in Billy's arms so he could look hopefully up at him. “You don't?”

Billy wasn't avoiding his eyes anymore. “No,” he admitted. “I- I love you, Freddy.”

Oh. Freddy smiled slowly, almost unable to believe what he was hearing. “You do?”

Billy smiled weakly. “Maybe you need to clean your ears out,” he said, and then gave Freddy's earlobe a kiss which was- cheesy as hell, and Freddy let him know it by giving him a playful shove.

“You asshole. Did you really have to put me through that just to tell me you love me?” he demanded.

Billy rolled his eyes and caught Freddy's arm before he could shove him again. “I've been in, like, emotional turmoil. You could be a little more understanding.”

“Understanding my ass,” Freddy giggled, his relief making him feel giddy. “Understanding is for good boyfriends.”

“Oh my god,” Billy groaned and flopped back onto the mattress. He was grinning, though, the first time Freddy had really seen him smile in days. “I just tell my boyfriend I love him and this is the response I get.”

“It's all about timing, idiot. If you'd started with 'I love you,' we'd be having a different conversation.” Freddy rolled onto his side and used his hand to turn Billy's face to him. His stomach was fluttering with nervousness and happiness. "Let me demonstrate." 

“Billy,” he said, and tenderly touched the back of his fingers to Billy's cheek, feeling the soft fuzz and the coarser stubble. “I don't have all the answers, but I know we're doing the right thing, because, well... because I love you, and that can't be wrong, can it?”

Billy grinned and then pulled Freddy to him and kissed him sweetly. 

“You're right,” Billy said, when they reluctantly parted, because there was no point in starting something they couldn't finish. “That would have been a lot easier."


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll just save the excuses and just admit that I kinda suck for taking so long to post more chapters of this, okay? I'm sorry! There will be more fun stuff to come soon, so if anyone has stuck with me, I really appreciate it and I hope you will feel your patience has been rewarded.

The next morning Billy smiled at breakfast and made a joke with Darla, and as it was the first time he'd smiled in days, it did not go unnoticed. Rosa widened her eyes significantly at Freddy. Freddy gave her a shy little smile in return, and Rose did something funny with her eyebrows, all while very poorly concealing her excitement. Pretty soon the entire exchange was gaining way too much attention for Freddy's comfort and Billy was starting to look a little flustered. He shot Rosa a warning glare, silently promising to tell her about it later, not wanting to embarrass Billy anymore, and firmly turned his back on the silent exchange, asking Eugene about an upcoming test instead.

After breakfast was over, Rosa, with a glorious lack of subtlety, pulled Freddy into the kitchen to grill him.

“Well? Is everything okay now?” she asked eagerly, because she wasn't unobservant and she'd noticed how awkward Billy and Freddy had been around each other the last few days, even if neither had confided in her. She'd known, but wise as she was to the changeable nature of teenagers, she'd left them to handle their relationship without interference.

“He broke up with me!” Freddy exclaimed- mostly for dramatic effect, but also because he was still a little aggrieved by the whole thing. This was a story he might look back on one day and laugh about- but he sure as shit wasn't laughing now.

Rose's face fell spectacularly. “Oh no!” she cried, her arms already going out to hug him, but Freddy held up a hand to hold off her sympathies.

“But then the idiot took it back,” Freddy said and rolled his eyes. 

Rosa sighed and shook her head. "Boys," she said with such warmth and affection that it was impossible for Freddy to take offense. Besides, honestly Freddy had to agree. He and Billy (mostly Billy though, obviously) had been idiots.

“And then...” he said, biting his lip to keep from exploding with absolute joy. “He told me he loved me.”

Rosa squealed happily and gave a little jump, reaching out to grab his hands and shaking them between them. “Oh, my darlingl! _Amor joven_ \- oh, that takes me back to my first love.” 

Freddy just lifted a shoulder, a little embarrassed. Rosa was just so damn easy to confide in, though, and it was a secret so wonderful that it really just had to be shared. “Billy's scared to death of disappointing you and Victor and the rest of the family. He still thinks he might get sent away if he doesn't live up to some ridiculous standard of perfection that he thinks we expect of him!” 

Rosa put her hands to her mouth, her excitement instantly souring into dismay. “Oh no,” she whispered. And then her eyes hardened with a determination. “Okay, that's more than enough of that. Go out there and tell Billy I need to see him. Go ahead and walk the kids to school and I'll drive Billy to school on my way to work.”

Billy knew better than to argue with Rosa when she got like this, so he just nodded his head. “Yes ma'am!” he said and hobbled quickly out of the room, his joints smarting from his crash landing with the ground last night.

**

No matter how much Freddy quizzed Billy to reveal the details of the conversation he and Rosa had later, Billy remained silent. Whatever the content of the discussion, however, the results were immediately clear. Whatever she'd said, she seemed to have put Billy's fears to rest. 

That evening, when the family retired to the living room after dinner to do homework and play board games, Billy sat down on the couch next to Freddy and, with a slightly trembling and definitely sweaty hand, took Freddy's hand in his and held it between them. And, even better, no one commented or cared.


	11. Chapter 11

In the Vasquez household there are certain birthday protocols, of unknown origin, that must be observed at all costs. They all began with waking the birthday boy or girl up way too early and “surprising” them with a breakfast lovingly, if inexpertly, prepared by their siblings.

Billy had the good fortune of his birthday falling on a Satuday this year, and normally both he and Freddy would have taken advantage of the weekend to snooze until noon at least, but as it was Billy's birthday...

“Poor guy,” Freddy commiserated quietly, if completely insincerely, when he came back up to their bedroom after assisting with the special birthday breakfast. Billy had done this to him just a few months ago on his birthday, though, and revenge was sweet.

He crept into the room and stealthily limped over to the bunk bed, where Billy was snoring unsuspectingly on the top. There was no way Freddy was going to clamor up the stairs to the second bunk without waking him, so he stood up on his bottom mattress as quietly as he could and leaned over Billy's torso. He paused the appropriate amount of time to admire his hot boyfriend. It was verging on total creeper territory, he could admit that, but whatever. These days Freddy took what he could get.

He smiled, both fond and devilish, and restrained the urge to put a finger out and wipe the drool off Billy's perfect, plump mouth. God, he really was gorgeous. But, Freddy wouldn't allow himself to be distracted from his solemn mission. Birthday traditions were serious business, after all. 

Freddy opened his mouth. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BILLY!” he screamed in his ear, and promptly fell off the bunk when Billy explosively awakened, limbs flailing and yelling in alarm, pillows and sheets flying.

Freddy stumbled back to the ground and staggered to a crouch, laughing too hard to even care that he'd probably done himself damage. He clutched his hip as he gasped for breath. His side hurt and if he wasn't careful he was going to piss his pants because apparently peeing from laughing so hard wasn't something that only happened to old men.

“YOU ASSHOLE!” Billy shouted, and then he practically levitated off the top bunk, but Freddy was already gone, running out the bedroom and heading for the stairs, crutch tightly under his arm to streamline the aerodynamics of his body.

“Breakfast is ready, baby!” he called in between gasps and gleeful chortles.

Darla had been in charge of decorations, because when she cooked she tended to set off the fire alarm, and she'd done the job with real flair, if not exactly style. There was a big glittery poster that Victor had put up for her, but the streamers and balloons had been hung at about hip height all around the dining room, and there was confetti on everyone's plates, and a little in the food too. 

Pedro and Mary had done most of the cooking, because Pedro was the best at it and Mary was the most responsible, and Freddy and Eugene had been in charge of cleaning.

And, waking up the birthday boy, of course.

Freddy hobbled into the kitchen and grabbed the broom he'd left leaning against the corner and held it in front of him protectively when Billy burst in the kitchen, hair mussed and pajamas askew. He backed into the corner when Billy approached him, an evil glint in his eye that promised Repercussions.

“Look, you did it to me too,” Freddy said, clutching his broom and trying to pretend he didn't feel a little like a crippled, defenseless gazelle being stalked by a sexy lion, because he didn't even have time to list all of the ways that was just wrong.

“Happy birthday, big brother!” Darla squealed and she launched herself on Billy, proving herself to be the true predator. Billy crumpled like a napkin under her attack. He picked her up and gave her a big hug, his pretense at annoyance gone and his face alight with laughter and happiness.

**

Freddy saved his present for last, after the rest of the lovingly crafted gifts had been given and received with good grace. He handed the card to Billy and watched as the boy smirked at the goofy puppy on the front of the store bought card and then his eyes widen at what was inside. He lifted the two movie tickets, his expression a little stunned.

“Fast and Furious 28: Shanghai Shenanigans!?” he exclaimed. “I thought you wanted to see that new Batman documentary?”

Freddy smiled magnanimously. “It's your birthday,” he said, and Billy had mentioned the new Fast and Furious movie a time or two... or twenty. Apparently there were no casual fans of the franchise.

“Oh yeah,” Billy crowed. “This will be way better than some documentary. Batman is seriously overrated anyway.”

Freddy sighed and shook his head fondly. “Sure,” he said, because on your birthday your loved ones were obligated to indulge your eccentricities. 

**

After the movie (Billy loved it, and Freddy loved sitting next to Billy in the theater and imagining going down on him under the cover of darkness) they went to Mcdonalds, because Darla had assured Freddy that McDonalds was the perfect balance of cool and fun for a first date, and it was within Freddy's limited price range.

No one had a lot of money in the Vasquez household, so they took a moment to really appreciate the novelty of a meal not eaten at home or at school. They breathed in the smell of salt and the slightly sour odor of old dairy covered by disinfectant and grease.

“Awesome,” Billy said, his gaze zeroing in on the indoor playground. “Hey, let's go on that.”

“We're way too old,” Freddy said, but he was already stepping towards it, because he rarely required any convincing to do something he really shouldn't do.

They didn't even take their shoes off, only loitering by the entrance until none of the McDonalds employees were paying attention and then scrambling inside. Freddy abandoned his crutch and followed Billy's delightful backside into the smelly, dark depths of the play equipment.

Freddy hadn't been in the McDonalds playground in years, and he wasn't sure if it was because he was older and more discerning, or the rarity of going to the restaurant had befuddled him in his youth, but he didn't remember it being quite so grimy.

“Yuck,” Freddy said as he clamored gracelessly after Billy through the tubes. He shook the moldy french fry he'd put his hand down on off and wiped his palm on his jeans. “It's really fucking gross in here,” he said, and Billy laughed and hushed him. 

“Don't say fuck, a kid could hear you,” Billy said, even though they'd both checked and there weren't any kids, because they weren't complete assholes and they weren't trying to get arrested for being the two creepy teens playing with kids on the playground.

“Fuck,” Freddy said, and winced at the way the cramped position made his knees and hips hurt. “I'm heading for the ball pit,” he said, even though Billy was already ahead of him on the level above, with his perfect athletic legs and upper body strength. Freddy drug his ass through the tube and squirmed towards the ball pit, which he could already smell, all plasticky and vaguely stale. He noodled out of the tube and then slithered like a relieved snake into the ball pit and lay there, breathing heavily and trying not to imagine the sea of bacteria and rotten happy meals he was probably swimming in.

After a while Billy appeared from above, crawling rather than slipping through a slide made for smaller kids than he. He splashed into the ball pit, more or less on top of Freddy.

“Dude, I'm pretty sure there are like, rats in this place,” Billy said, and flung an arm around Freddy's waist, making him sink further into balls.

In that moment, with Billy's arm around him, Freddy thought it was the most romantic thing he'd ever heard. “Yeah?” he asked breathlessly, and when Billy noticed the way Freddy was looking at him, a slow smile spread over his mouth. In the last few weeks they'd really put the brakes on their more amorous activities, and Freddy had mostly been okay with that because he'd known it was what Billy and the family needed. Now, though, with Billy a little sweaty from exertion and so goddamn beautiful he was like a work of art, Freddy remembered with testicle tingling clarity that they were teenage boys and they were really into each other.

“I love you, Billy,” Freddy whispered, and licked his lips, staring at Billy's mouth and wishing they were alone and they had some small measure of privacy so he could give Billy the birthday gift he'd really like to. He'd wracked his brains trying to think of some solution to their lack of privacy, and he'd been stumped so far.

Billy was looking at Freddy's mouth too and slowly leaning closer, as though he knew better than to kiss Freddy in public where kids might catch them no less, but Freddy's allure was frying his reservations.

Behind them a plastic door creaked open and they flung themselves apart, making the plastic balls fly. A teenage girl about their age blinked in at them through thick glasses. She had big curly hair and a McDonalds uniform on. She looked a little like Darla did in her Shazam form, which killed the last of Freddy's desire.

“Hey guys,” she said apologetically, glancing back over her shoulder nervously. “Look, you'd better get out of there. My manager hasn't seen you yet, but he called the cops on a couple of teens the other week for making out in the tubes.”

“We weren't, uh-” he said, mortified, and scrambled through the balls like a dog paddling through water until Billy helped pull him through and they fell out of the little door the girl held open for them. Billy and the girl tossed the balls that spilled out after them back in the pit.

“It's okay,” she said, shrugging and smiling at them. “It happens all the time.”

“It's just Billy's birthday and we were being idiots, playing on the playground,” Freddy said, as if that excused anything, and the girl lifted an eyebrow. 

“You're over the age of seven and you chose to come to McDonalds and play for your birthday?” she asked, and Freddy felt himself blush.

“Uhh... my little sister said it would be a good first date,” he said, which seemed much more questionable now that he'd said it out loud.

The girl just laughed good-naturedly. “Okay... sure. Just stay out of the playground, okay? My manager is a douche.” She stood and wiped her knees off then headed back to the front counter.

Billy and Freddy exchanged a sheepish look. 

“It feels weird that this is our 'first date,'” Billy said, and Freddy scuffed his foot on the floor. What had he been thinking? Losers went to McDonalds for their first dates! Billy nudged Freddy's shoulder. “It's an awesome first date.”

**

“DUDE!” Freddy said suddenly, loudly enough that a few people turned around and glanced over at him, fries and straws hanging out of their mouths. He brought his hand down hard on the table, making the scraps of his leftover meal tremble a little. “ _The Lair._ We can go to the Lair and-” Freddy abruptly lowered his voice and whispered, “fuck. No one would hear us or see us. Oh my god, why didn't we think of this sooner?” 

No, really, why the hell hadn't he thought of it? Maybe it was because he'd been half afraid of his superhero self and consumed by the feeling of inadequacy that such a gift had been bestowed on him of all people and thus had deliberately avoided even thinking about the lair... but that was a whole suitcase of issues to unpack at a later date, thanks.

Billy's face was equally flabbergasted. “Oh my god. We're idiots.”

“Come on, let's go,” Freddy said, clamoring out of the booth, his crutch swinging wildly and almost knocking over their neighbor's drink. 

Billy followed, though he ran back to the table to grab his half empty carton of fries before running back to Freddy.

Freddy led them to the back of the Mcdonalds to the men's restroom, pushing the door open with his crutch and hobbling in. He looked back and found Billy stuffing fries in his mouth with one hand while holding the door open with the other.

“Man, that's disgusting,” he said, sneering as Billy walked past him into the grungy bathroom that smelled of piss and grease. There was a small pile of wet toilet paper in one corner, which was... worrying. “It's fucking gross to eat in a bathroom.”

Billy just rolled his eyes and shrugged, stuffing the last few in his mouth until it was stretched full like a chipmunk, and then tossing the carton into the overflowing trashcan.

The handicap accessible stall was occupied- of course it was- so Freddy crammed into the nearest one and then pulled Billy in with him. He awkwardly reached around to lock the door behind him, his crutch clattering off the metal walls. 

“What are you doing?” Billy whispered when he'd struggled to swallow the fries, probably only half chewed. They were so close Freddy could smell the salt on his breath and see the little hairs poking out of his nostrils. “I know we're like, weirdly close, but I don't have to hold your hand while you shit.”

There was a surprised cough and a fart from the stall next door.

Freddy just stared at him in amazement. “Are you serious? You thought I was coming in here to take a dump and you just followed me?” he asked wonderingly. He knew Billy was smart, he really did, but holy moley. Freddy jammed his hand into his pocket, rummaged through the contents, and withdrew the sharpie he'd stowed there on the off chance he might have some opportunity in the day to give Billy a special birthday sharpie mustache. He shook the sharpie pointedly at Billy. “We're going to the Lair. Sharpie. Door. Magic inscription the leads to Lair. Relative Privacy. What else do we need?”

“Wait,” Billy said, his brow furrowed. “That doesn't... no, we can't do that. That doesn't feel right.”

Freddy just stared at him, nonplussed. “Let me get this straight. We've had a terminal case of blue balls for _months_ because we live in a house with eight people and you're throwing the brakes on us _now_ when we're so close to being alone my dick can smell it?” he asked, his voice growing louder as he spoke, even as Billy looked redder and more annoyed. 

“No! I mean, _yes!_ We're in a public bathroom, for God's sake, we can't just leave a magic inscription that leads back to our private Lair around for anyone to find. It might even hurt people, I don't know. Just, something is telling me that's a bad idea. My... uh, magic or something.” 

It was true that Billy seemed more in tune with his inner magic or whatever, and Freddy hesitated. He didn't want to hurt anyone, or take the risk. He bit his lip, looked longingly at the bathroom stall door that had a phone number and 'for a good time, call Sally' engraved deep in the metal, and then sighed.

“Okay, okay,” he conceded. “Um... I've really been wanting to give you a birthday blow job- if- if you want me to. I just didn't know how I could manage it. What if we go back home, wait till everyone's asleep, and use the closet door to get to the Lair?”

He looked at Billy hopefully, and didn't miss the way the boy's eyes widened at the mention of the promised blow job. Billy hesitated for only a moment before nodding eagerly, and they shared a grin, and then awkwardly pried themselves back out of the cramped stall.

The occupant of the next stall over was at the sink, washing his hands. He was about fifty with a long grey beard and a leather biker jacket. He probably weighed more than both of them put together and when they fell out of the stall together he looked up at them with a hostile, suspicious glance.

“We're cosplayers,” Freddy babbled. “You know, we dress up like, uh, average every day teens and pretend like we're superheroes and act out scenarios. All the kids are doing it.”

Billy wasn't even trying to hide his laugh. “We're on drugs,” he piped up. “Kids these days, right?” he said, and then grabbed Freddy's hand and all but ran with him out of the bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let's be real here: Freddy was totally going to draw a special birthday penis on Billy's forehead if he ever got the chance


	12. Chapter 12

“ _Happy birthday blow job to you,_ ” Freddy sang fairly creditably, he thought, considering he had to whisper and include two extra syllables in the classic song. “ _Happy birthday blow job to youuuuu..._ ”

“ _My enthusiasm wanes with every verse,_ ” Billy sang back.

“Your sarcasm won't help you now,” Freddy told him, and leaned over to give Billy's cheek a kiss when the other boy just sighed and gave him that look that was supposed to be disapproving but was actually pretty indulgent. If Billy didn't know what a nerd Freddy was by now, well... that was no fault of Freddy's. He certainly hadn't been hiding it.

They were sitting side by side on the bottom bunk, waiting for the last of the nighttime noises to fall silent as the many members of the house settled into bed. They had a bag of supplies, a towel, a sleeping bag and a pillow. They'd both jerked off when they'd had their shower for the night so it wouldn't be over too quickly, and between bouts of teasing Billy, Freddy had been reading article after article about how to give _spectacular_ head, in the hope that if he aimed for the stars he optimistically might fall within the acceptable range. 

“I think we can go,” Freddy finally whispered. 

Billy nodded and went to the closet door, removing a piece of chalk and beginning to draw the sigils that he seemed to know without needing a reference. When Billy had finished the last sigil a glowing light began to stream through the cracks around the edges of the door. Billy pulled it open and held it for Freddy.

Freddy stepped through and was assaulted with an unsettled feeling that had nothing to do with the inherent terror of sex. The last time they'd been here they'd been trying to escape Sivana, and Freddy didn't like to think about that, even though they'd won. It had still been terrifying, okay?

He clutched the sleeping bag for comfort and looked around the massive stone structure -or cave?- taking in the details he'd been too panicked to observe last time. They passed that weird fiddle sitting in the fire. 

“That's, um, kind of romantic,” he lied. “Sort of like a crackling fire in a hearth except much more sinister. What is it, anyway?”

“I have no idea,” Billy admitted, and shrugged when Freddy gave him a critical look. “What? That old guy disintegrated before he had a chance to do much more than tell me his name. This is all a mystery to me.”

They walked further into the cavern until they came to the statues of the seven sins. Their eyes were dull black now and they remained silent, but also somehow alive too. They weren't talking, but it seemed possible they might begin at any moment. Sivana was in prison, but Freddy didn't doubt for a moment that if the right villain came along, they could awaken again. 

He began to have his first doubts. As a lair the place was great, but as a romantic rendezvous it left something to be desired. He didn't know how he'd feel about the stone statues watching and judging him while he attempted to give his first blow job, wondering all the while if they might wake up and critique his technique. Actually, yes, he did know. It was a bad idea.

“Nope,” he said. “Not in here. I don't need Lust staring at my ass while I'm trying to get you off.”

“Uh, yeah,” Billy said with a visible shudder, and they turned away from the dais and went back, deeper into the cavern where all the doors were. 

“Sometime we're really going to have to investigate all these doors,” Billy said, circling one. 

“Don't get distracted,” Freddy said, and began to lay out the sleeping bag they'd swiped from the storage closet. 

“I'm not going to get distracted,” Billy said, and he looked right in Freddy's eyes and smiled, and oh. Freddy melted a little.

He dropped the pillow and limped forward a few steps towards him, and Billy took the hint. They came together, their hands immediately roaming and their lips meeting hungrily. 

“Mmmph,” Freddy sighed happily between their mouths, and Billy began to tug him towards the sleeping bag, their feet shuffling together until they nearly tripped over the bag of condoms. Billy urged Freddy down and they collapsed in a heap on the sleeping bag. Freddy ditched his brace and squirmed eagerly on top of Billy, rubbing their bodies together through the thin cotton of their pajamas. 

“Fred-” Billy groaned when Freddy straddled Billy's hips and began to undulate their groins together.

“Yeah, Yeah,” Freddy mumbled against Billy's neck, where he was licking his neck, because that seemed sexy in his head. Billy's hands landed on Freddy's ass, and then squeezed him through his pants. “Oh, wow."

“Wait, wait,” Freddy said, forcing himself to still his hips. “I don't want to come like this. I still need to give you head.”

Billy looked dazed, but he blinked his eyes and tried to focus on Freddy. He was on his back, looking flushed and disheveled with his hard cock straining at the front of his pants, and holy Batman, that was a _good_ look. “Uh, you know you don't have to, right? This is good.”

“No way, man,” Freddy said firmly. “Not after I sang the birthday blow job song.”

“Please don't sing it again,” Billy said fervently.

“Shut up. Just take your clothes off.” Freddy got on his knees. Which, ouch. The cold stones were probably just fine if you were practicing your superhero moves, but they were pretty hard on the knees. 

Billy kicked off his pants, and Freddy had to pause a moment to really appreciate the sight. Billy was ridiculously good looking and he was _Freddy's boyfriend_. It still amazed him sometimes.

“You too,” Billy said, as he obviously tried to lie their casually, even though he didn't seem to know what to do with his arms and his stomach muscles fluttered as he clenched and un-clenched them. 

“Right, um.” Freddy was flooded by a wave of nerves again. With trembling hands he quickly pulled off his pajamas. He had to restrain himself to keep from covering his groin with his hand- not because Billy hadn't seen him naked many times, but because they'd never had such luxury to really look at each other like this and the scrutiny was intense. 

Billy didn't seem to think anything was wrong with what he was seeing, though, for a big grin spread over his face and he reached a hand down to give himself a few strokes. Find you a man who masturbates spontaneously at the sight of your naked body, because it was doing wonders for Freddy's self confidence.

Freddy briefly thought about using one of the condoms they'd brought, but it was a low risk activity, so he didn't bother. Freddy thought he could hear Victor yelling at him somewhere, but he turned that voice down. He was nervous enough without Victor in his head, thanks. 

“Er, is this how you want me, or-”

“No, no, this is fine. Well. _Birthday blow job,_ ” Freddy sang, for luck, and then he leaned over and after a bit of a dance to get his head slanted at the optimal angle, he pressed his lips against the head of Billy's penis, giving it a sloppy kiss. Mostly Billy tasted clean from his recent shower, but underneath he was musky and a little sweaty with just a hint of urine-- that sounded way grosser than it actually was, because Freddy found nothing objectionable about about what he was doing so far.

“Ngh, oh, F-Freddy,” Billy murmured, showing great enthusiasm for what little Freddy was doing, so Freddy bent over further and worked the head all the way into his mouth, carefully covering his teeth. He knew better than to try and deep throat Billy his first time, so he brought up a hand and wrapped his fingers around the shaft while he did his best to undulate his tongue against the head. He tried to time the way he caressed the head with the way he jacked the shaft, but wasn't sure it was an entirely seamless rhythm. It was a little awkward, but when he looked up and saw Billy's stupid grin, he figured that if Billy had noticed he hadn't cared. 

“Oh my _God,_ baby,” Billy groaned above him. His pupils were wide and dark and his glistening mouth was parted as he panted. One hand was tearing at the sleeping bag and the other was clenched around Freddy's skinny thigh. His hips kept giving tiny, aborted thrusts as he struggled to keep himself still. 

Bending over while on his knees made his hipbones feel a little like they might jump out of his skin and run away from home in protest, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. He pulled off Billy, making the boy make a pitiful noise of disappointment, and shifted onto his side, relieving his discomfort.

“Face me on your side,” Freddy urged, and they moved together, easily finding a new position. Freddy slung an arm around Billy's waist and grabbed his ass and gave it a squeeze- that one was for him, not Billy- then he leaned in again. He cautiously bobbed his head, letting his lips pop over the ridge of the crown repeatedly in a way he knew was good, given the obscene noises Billy was making, while he clumsily pumped his shaft. 

“Oh, Freddy, baby, yes, _yes_ ” Billy chanted and Freddy closed his eyes happily and continued the repetitive but obviously highly effective move. “Oh, oh, oh- Fred, I'm about to come!”

The warning did not come a moment too soon. Freddy only really got his lips off his dick before Billy was coming, string after string of it shooting across Freddy's mouth, chin and cheeks while Billy shuddered, thrashed and generally lost his mind.

How was this real life? He'd blown his boyfriend and _nothing had gone wrong._ They were redeemed! They were brilliant at sex!

Freddy lifted a fist and let out a loud whoop, startling Billy. 

“Oh my god, I did it!” Freddy scrambled up onto his knees, leaning over Billy and practically dancing with excitement, like a kid who gets a puppy on Christmas day. “That was so hot, holy shit. Blow jobs and bukkake! That's like, next level. What are we going to do next? Anal? Bondage? Here, lick your come off my face.” 

Billy's slighted befuddled expression immediately morphed into disgust, but Freddy's enthusiasm would not be curbed. “Okay, we're not ready for that,” he said, and grabbed the towel they'd flung to the side and wiped his face off, and then all but hurled himself on top of Billy so he could kiss him. 

Billy, good sport that he was, just let out a grunt as something pointy of Freddy's jammed into something soft of Billy's. He put his arms around the wriggling Freddy and hung on as Freddy landed kisses like torpedoes on his neck and collarbones while rubbing his crotch against Billy's hip bone. It was good... but it could be better. Flushed with the triumph of the evening, Freddy was daring. 

He arched up until his lips were right by Billy's ear. “I want you to put your finger in my ass,” he whispered, and giggled when Billy's whole body froze. “Dude, I'm going to want you to put a lot more than your finger in my ass. Consider yourself lucky we're starting small.”

“Freddy!” Billy said, scandalized, but when Freddy drew back to judge his reaction, he thought Billy looked intrigued. 

“I mean-” he said, feeling he could afford to be generous. “I'm not going to make you...”

Billy blushed but he smiled back bashfully. “N-no, I didn't say I wouldn't do it,” he said. “With the lube?”

“Yes,” Freddy said, triumphant, and reached out to snag the bottle and pass it to his boyfriend. “Just put about a pea sized amount on your finger and just...”

“Stick it in?” Billy asked doubtfully. “That feels good?”

Freddy grinned and gave a happy wriggle, rubbing his cock against Billy's sweaty skin. “Oh yeah. Unlike you, I'm not afraid of the dildos Victor gave us. I've been trying it out in the shower.” He hadn't been ready to admit that to Billy before, but one successful sex act had bolstered his courage. You just couldn't be shy with someone when you'd had their dick in your mouth.

“I'm not afraid of the _sex education tool!_ ” Billy protested, but he totally was. 

Billy fiddled with the lube and then put one finger against Freddy's hole. He pushed, but not very confidently. “I don't want to hurt you.”

Freddy sighed. “You realize I take shits way bigger than your finger, and without the benefit of lube, right? You aren't going to hurt me.”

“Wow. Stop Freddy,” Billy said dryly. “You'll make me blush with this romantic talk.”

“Just stick your finger in my ass!” Freddy snapped, and Billy did. 

Freddy knew why some guys might be squeamish about having something in their butts, but not Freddy. He'd known instinctively he'd like anal, and when he'd tried it on himself he hadn't been disappointed. Freddy buried his face against Billy's shoulders and arched like a cat in heat. “Mmmph,” he said, and luxuriously fucked himself on Billy's finger. “Put another in and then kinda curl your fingers towards yourself like- oh, yeah, like that.” 

Freddy could tell that Billy was getting into it, because his breathing was getting a little heavier and his body was shifting restlessly under Freddy. 

“You feel that? That's-”

“Your prostate,” Billy finished, and he turned his head and kissed Freddy's temple. “Wow, you really do like this,” he said, and he grew bolder, sliding his fingers in and out of Freddy's hole, probing gently at his prostate. Meanwhile his other hand slid between their bellies and Billy softly encircled Freddy's cock.

“Oh my God,” Freddy whined as he thrust forward and then back, as if his own body couldn't decide which felt better. “Oh my _God._ ” Freddy beat a fist against the sleeping bag because, damn. No teenage boy ever had it so good, he was certain. 

Billy was really getting a rhythm now, fucking Freddy from both ends, and though Freddy would have loved for the experience to last longer, he was only human. Freddy muffled what probably would have been a scream in Billy's shoulder and came like he'd never come in his life. The earth moved- though that might have been because Freddy was lying on top of Billy. Billy definitely moved.

Afterwards Freddy lay on Billy, limbs like noodles and brain like a fried egg. 

“We're awesome,” he finally murmured, and slowly unstuck their bodies so he could roll over onto the sleeping bag beside Billy.

“Yeah,” Billy said happily and grabbed Freddy's hand, giving it a squeeze. He looked over at Freddy and smiled, and a little more of Freddy's heart packed up its ventricles, rolled up the arteries, and moved out to go live in Billy's chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they deserved a triumph, so I let them have their magical night. I'll humiliate them some other time. :D


	13. Chapter 13

“I can't talk about baseball anymore!” Freddy yelled, making a few of the boys on the team turn around and glared at him. 

“Well we are at baseball practice,” Billy said, his mouth turned up in an indulgent smile, well used to Freddy's random outbursts. 

“Yeah, do you see us practicing?” Freddy asked, which was a point Billy and Pedro were forced to give him. They were lined up in a row in the bleachers, Billy in the middle, watching other people actually play baseball. 

The JV boys baseball coach was out because his wife had had a baby, and the after school practice duties had been foisted upon the Varsity boys baseball coach. Unfortunately, the Varsity coach was very goal oriented- the goal being playoffs- and working with JV was so low down on the list of his priorities he'd done little more than glance at them. The JV boys had been working on their tans in the bleachers for three days and talking about baseball.

Freddy didn't particularly care. He'd only taken the pity position of _second_ team manager so he could spend more time with Billy, and he'd taken his responsibilities only as far as vaguely cheering during practice and providing Pedro and Billy only with snacks and drinks, while the real student team manager sat with the coaches, kept stats, gave players pep talks and organized posters and spirit cheers. As far as Freddy was concerned, that was taking the job way too seriously. 

“What then?” Pedro asked, because when he was among people he was truly comfortable with he could occasionally be drawn out into conversation.

Freddy looked around, trying to think of something they hadn't already covered at length. “Uh... let's just ask random questions. Like... okay. Would you rather spend the day at the beach or in the woods?”

“Woods,” Pedro answered promptly. “Too many people at the beach.”

“Beach,” Billy said. “Hot people in skimpy swinsuits.”

“Ugh. You'd also see, like, old grandmas in thongs and dudes with back hair so thick you could make a bearskin rug out of it. Pass,” Freddy shuddered. “Okay, I pick neither. I'd get lost in the woods or fall off a cliff. What? You know I would.”

“That's against the rules.” Billy said. “You have to pick one.”

“What rules? I just made this game up!” Feddy exclaimed. Billy looked like he was gearing up to keep the argument going, but Pedro got the last word.

“Pick one,” Pedro said, and sometimes when he made a pronouncement like that, you just had to go with it.

“Fine. The beach. Less chance of death.”

“There's sharks,” Billy pointed out, and Freddy glared at him for even suggesting it. 

“Your turn.”

Billy tapped his baseball glove against his chin, thinking. “Uh... what's your favorite vehicle? Mine's an Aston Martin Valkyrie.” 

“Easy. Batmobile,” Freddy said.

“Freddy...” Billy groaned in mock disgust, but he was grinning so Freddy didn't take it too seriously. Billy had opined that Freddy would leave him for Superman or Batman if given the chance. Freddy hadn't disagreed. (He totally wouldn't, but there was no need for Billy to get a bigger head than he already had).

“What? It is my favorite vehicle,” Freddy said, fully ready to go on the defense of his choice. The Batmobile was a work of high tech art.

“Prius,” Pedro said, and Freddy leaned around Billy to give him a surprised look.

“Really? Any kind of car in the world and you pick a Prius?”

“They're a moderately priced vehicle with good safety ratings and they're better for the environment than a sports car,” Pedro said reasonably.

Well. That made Freddy kinda feel like a douche. The Batmobile was probably a gas guzzler. “Okay, you're turn.”

Pedro took the longest of all of them to think of question. “If you could spend one day doing any job, what would it be? I'd be a fireman. I think it would be cool to help people.”

“Wow. Good question,” Freddy said, impressed. “Good answer, too.” He thought about it. There were jobs he'd considered for himself on a practical level, and then there were dream jobs. “Food scientist. It's a real thing. You taste food all day. You could spend your whole day eating ice cream and actually get paid for it. Sounds pretty sweet to me.”

“I have a feeling there's a bit more to it than that,” Billy said, but shut up when Freddy gave him a poke in the side and suggested that he'd be willing to share the ice cream. “Okay. How about Nascar driver? How crazy would that be?”

“You don't even know how to drive,” Freddy scoffed. “You'd roll your car and go up in a ball of flames.”

“As my superhero self,” Billy amended, his voice too low to be overheard, and Freddy had to concede that one.

“Okay, yeah, Nascar driver would be pretty fucking awesome, under those circumstances.”

“And I do know how to drive!” Billy said, indignant.

“What, a bicycle?”

“Dude! No, like a real car. I stole my foster dad's car once. Uh... I did hit a tree.”

“See? I told you you couldn't drive.”

“It wasn't my fault!”

“How do you hit a tree and it not be your fault? Did it jump out in front of you? Was it jaywalking?”

“It was _raining_ and-”

Pedro broke up the argument again, with the patience of one who'd endured Freddy and Billy's bickering many, many times before. “Your turn, Freddy.”

Freddy sat back against his bleacher seat. He looked around, and spotted one of the Varsity athlete's girlfriends leaning against a car parked on the road next to the practice field, probably waiting to take him home when they were done. “If you could switch bodies with a girl for a day, would you do it?”

That question got a mildly shocked look from even Pedro. The questions were getting downright existential. The stakes had been raised.

Billy just about dropped his baseball glove. “Uh... which girl?”

“Any girl. You're pick.”

Billy's face broke out in a wide grin. “Oh yeah. Definitely. If it was a hot girl.”

“Why?” Freddy asked, suspicious. He wasn't sure if he should be jealous or not. 

“Careful, Billy.” Pedro had a little smirk on his face, clearly sensing that Billy was on dangerous grounds.

Billy, not picking up on the hint, just grinned more wickedly. “Well. You know.”

“What?” Freddy asked, because he did know but he wanted to make Billy say it.

Billy was blushing, but after glancing around to see if anyone else was listening, he continued in a whisper, his head ducked. “Uh, y'know. I'd jerk off, because, like. I'd want to know what it felt like for a girl. Haven't you wondered if they're different? Girl's... um... orgasms.” Billy finished off the last word so quietly that Freddy had to lean in to hear.

Freddy hit him. It was more of a love pat, really, but it resulted in a scuffle in which Freddy got a good jab in Billy's side with his elbow and Billy shoved Freddy off the bench.

“Okay! Okay!” Freddy cried, giggling so hard he could barely breathe. He clamored back into his seat and fist bumped Pedro behind Billy's back, because that shit had been hilarious. “You're face, though. Oh my God. You don't have to be so shy about it. Girls have orgasms too.”

Billy rolled his eyes. “Well. You never answered your own question. If you switched bodies with a girl you'd go shopping, would you? Get your nails done? Maybe some interior decorating?” 

“Wow,” Freddy said in mock amazement. “I don't know if that was sexist or homophobic, but I'm offended either way.”

“Definitely,” Pedro said, nodding his head solemnly.

After Billy had sputtered and denied the accusation, getting flustered enough he was threatening to leave and go sit with someone else, Freddy took pity on him. 

“Oh, sit down,” Freddy said, grabbing his arm and holding it in case he tried to leave. “I'm just messing with you. _Of course_ I'd jerk off if I could switch bodies with a girl for a day. I'm gay, not dead. Is it jerking off if you're a girl? What's it called when girls get off?” 

“Uh... masturbation?” Pedro asked.

“Well, whatever. I'd masturbate until my fingers turned pruney or I broke something. Anyone would. Right Pedro?” 

“No,” Pedro said, and when both Billy and Freddy looked at him he elaborated. “I dunno. It'd feel kinda disrespectful.”

“You really are too good for this world, Pedro,” Freddy sighed. “You're turn, Billy.”

Billy, still a little huffy from Freddy's relentless teasing, glared at him. “Thanks, _Freddy,_ ” he said sarcastically.

Freddy, who was immune to sarcasm, just smiled. “Go ahead. I can't wait.”

“So... Would you ever pick up a hitchhiker?”

“Well I hope your answer would be no, considering you hit a tree the last time you drove...”

“ _Freddy!_ ”

“Okay, okay. The answer is no. Look, I'm already disadvantaged enough, right? What am I going to do if they go crazy on me, ask them politely to leave and threaten them with my crutch? Plus, I'm adorable. I'm pretty sure creepers would be into me. I'm, like, jail bait.” 

“That's debatable...” Billy muttered. And... Freddy was going to let that one go. He probably had it coming.

“I'd definitely give a hitchhiker a ride. Why not? All I'd have to do was go superhero on them if they tried something,” Billy said.

“Yeah, but wouldn't the lightning damage the roof of the car?” Pedro asked.

Billy's cocky expression fell. “Oh. Yeah.”

“It would depend if it seemed like they really needed help,” Pedro said thoughtfully. “Maybe I would then.” 

“Well, who's going to mess with you, anyway? You look like the Rock,” Freddy said, because Pedro had been blessed from the gods with a major growth spurt and Coach had him lifting weights in the gym. He wasn't at superhero levels of jacked yet, but he was sporting some respectable guns.

Pedro, pleased at the compliment, smiled bashfully and ducked his head. “Um... Who's your favorite actor or actress? I actually do think Dewayne Johnson is pretty great.” 

Oh man, such a classic question. “Who's the hottest, or who is the best actor?” Freddy asked, because there were two different answers.

“Either,” Pedro said, so Freddy- because he was Freddy- answered both. 

“Mark Wahlberg is the hottest, because damn. But did you see The Happening? It wasn't exactly his fault, but he'll never live that one down. The best one is Tom Hanks. He's basically every foster kid's pretend dad, but he's also an incredible actor.”

“Yeah, he's cool,” Billy agreed, because who could argue with that? “Okay. Hottest: Scarlet Johansson. Best: Meryl Streep.”

The got lifted eyebrows from both Pedro and Freddy. “Aww,” Freddy crooned, hugging Billy's arm, because he hadn't let go of it and Billy hadn't shaken him off. “You really are bi.”

“You should know,” Pedro said dryly.

“Meryl Streep's actually really good. I had a foster mom who was, like, obsessed. We'd watch her movies all the time,” Billy said earnestly, and God love him. Even Freddy couldn't give him shit for that. Meryl Streep was pretty spectacular.

Freddy craned around Billy. “Okay, now you gotta fess up: who do you think is the hottest?” he asked Pedro, because Pedro was pretty shy about that sort of thing.

Pedro was opening his mouth to reply when Freddy heard a shrill whistle and his name yelled across the field.

“HEY! FREEMAN!” Coach yelled up to them. “GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE AND HELP US TAKE IN THE EQUIPMENT!”

“Coming!” Freddy yelled back, then rolled his eyes at Pedro and Billy. “What a jerk- making me lug equipment around. I could fall down and not get up!”

“Well you are a team manager,” Billy pointed out, fairly. The first team manager was already out there on the field, actually working. “Besides, if he hadn't asked you you'd be complaining about him being ableist.”

Freddy's mouth opened to argue, but he couldn't. That was spot on- it totally sounded like him.

“You know he only joined so that he could stare at your butt in the tight baseball pants,” Pedro added, and then shrugged when Freddy turned outraged eyes on him.

Then Freddy laughed, because Pedro and Billy knew him really well, and it was really great to be known. “Well, yeah,” he said, and high fived Pedro. “I mean, your butt is cute too,” he added, and yelped when Billy slapped his ass with his baseball mitt and pushed him out onto the field- then followed to help him.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks georgiehensley, who wanted to see sweaty after game UST, and Kinca for suggesting that they'd like to see the boys at school interacting with teachers and other friends. Poor old Freddy is pretty friendless in the movie, so I made him some friends. We'll see how that goes.

_One week earlier_

Freddy happily bounced up to Billy as he waited for him by Coach Pope's geography class. Okay, it was probably more like a gimpy shamble, but it _felt_ like a bounce. It was just that kind of day.

Freddy had managed to get through his boring morning classes, each second ticking slowly by, and he'd finally made it to fifth period, his favorite class. It wasn't his favorite class because he liked geography, but rather because it was the only class he shared with Billy.

“Hey Billy,” Freddy said breathlessly, hitching his backpack up higher on his shoulder and trying not to swoon like some bosom heaving heroine in a romance novel. But... but... damn. He and Billy had managed to sneak away to the Lair for the second time last night, and it had been _amazing_. Billy had straddled Freddy's hips and taken both of their cocks in his fist and stroked them off together....

Billy was blushing and glancing around, clearly embarrassed by the shamelessly adoring look Freddy was probably giving him. Lockers slammed all around them and kids rushed by, headed towards their classes, and Freddy was staring at Billy with giant hearts in his eyes. No wonder Billy was embarrassed. 

“Hey,” Billy muttered, and Freddy took a step back, feeling a little deflated. Though they'd told their family about their relationship, they hadn't committed social suicide and told anyone else yet. High school was hard enough without inviting that kind of attention, Freddy figured.

“Uh, sorry,” Freddy said, ducking his head and looking down at his scuffed, worn out sneakers. The last thing he wanted to do was cause problems for Billy. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, there was still a part of Freddy that suspected that Billy might decide Freddy wasn't worth the hassle one of these days- no need to expedite that eventuality by acting even crazier than usual.

And then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Billy's arm move. It moved out jerkily, paused, and then slowly spanned the distance between them. As Freddy watched, wide eyed, Billy's hand reached out tentatively towards Freddy's hand. He brushed his fingers against Freddy's palm, not quite holding his hand, but acting as though he were asking for permission.

Freddy gasped and looked up at Billy, trying to comprehend what was going on.

Billy still wasn't exactly holding his hand, but he was making the effort. Unfortunately, Freddy couldn't remember how to make his hand work. His arm hung there, like a paralyzed limb, the traitorous little fucker. It was supposed to be the reliable limb, the one that worked the way it was supposed to!

“Um, is this okay?” Billy asked, obviously a little confused by Freddy's mixed signals. First eager as a puppy, then cold as a fish. _It's the shock,_ he wanted to yell. _Just give me a minute for my central nervous system to rev up again._

“I- I- God, yes!” Freddy squeaked, and Billy smiled uncertainly. He nudged his fingers into Freddy's palm, and finally Freddy was able to make his fingers work, curling his own around Billy's hand so that they were linked. 

Oh God, did someone have a camera ready, because this was one for the scrapbooks. Or the yearbook, at least. The day Billy Batson held Freddy Freeman's hand in public for the first time. He was in heaven.

“Freeman! Batson! Get your asses in here,” Coach Pope yelled from his classroom door, just as the tardy bell rang. That was the Varsity baseball coach for you. He really had a way with words.

Freddy sighed. “Yes, Coach,” he said, and Billy smiled mischievously. He let go of Freddy's hand so they could enter the room and then they parted to go to their assigned seats. 

Freddy's assigned seat was at the back corner of the room, probably because Coach Pope didn't know what to do with Freddy. Freddy was a smart kid- really smart- but he was not a well behaved kid, strictly speaking. He was too noisy, too chatty, too inquisitive, too fidgety and too attention seeking. He was just too much. He was the kid who raised his hand to answer every single question until the teacher yelled at him to give someone else a chance. He was the kid who tried to pass notes, to literally anyone. He was the kid who would talk anyone's ear off, even when he knew good and darn well they didn't like him and didn't care. He was _that_ kid.

“Hey! Hey, Freddy!” the girl behind Freddy said while the class settled into their seats and Coach Pope did the roll call. 

Freddy turned around, feeling surprised. Leigha Roberts was one of the undisputed popular girls in their grade. She was a cheerleader, had rich parents, and wore all the hottest trends. She had perfect, straight blonde hair that fell down to her waist and had a cute cluster of freckles draped over her nose that made Freddy think of picnics and summer. She wasn't conventionally pretty, but her face was pleasant and she smiled a lot. 

“Uh, hey Leigha,” he said, happy enough to be acknowledged. Leigha was actually pretty nice to everyone, Freddy included, but she'd never paid particular attention to him before. 

Leigha leaned forward over her desk. “Were you holding hands with Billy in the hallway?” she whispered.

Freddy couldn't stop the huge grin that spread over his face. He glanced over at Billy, who was casually chatting with a member of the baseball team. “Yeah,” he said, because as far as he was concerned Billy holding his hand in public was tantamount to a declaration to the world. “Billy's my boyfriend.” 

Leigha's pretty green eyes went round. “Billy's gay?” she gasped, and Freddy couldn't help but notice she didn't seem very shocked that Freddy was gay too. 

“Well he is my boyfriend,” Freddy said evasively, because he wasn't sure if it was his place to explain that Billy was bisexual. Leigha put a hand to her wide open mouth.

“I can't believe Billy Batson is gay,” she said, shaking her head. “Damn! I know at least three girls who have a crush on him. Are you sure he's gay?”

Freddy's smile faltered. He hadn't expected to have to defend the legitimacy of his relationship. “Uh. I just said he was my boyfriend.”

She narrowed her eyes, staring at him thoughtfully. “Yeah, but are you _sure_?”

Freddy looked around, feeling confused. Did she think he was making it up? “What, you want evidence? I'm sure. I was, uh, there.” 

“You have evidence?” Leigha asked, looking way too interested. What was she expecting him to do, whip out photographs?

“No!” Freddy exclaimed. “I mean, yes. We were holding hands, weren't we? You saw that.”

“It's just, Billy really doesn't seem gay. He's like, you know. Into sports and stuff.”

Freddy stared at her, his mouth open. “Wow. Way to stereotype,” he snapped, and turned around. After a few seconds Leigha pulled on his shoulder from behind so he had to turn around again.

“I'm not homophobic!” she said indignantly. “That wasn't meant to be offensive.”

Freddy wasn't so sure about that, but he also wasn't one to hold on to resentments, so he shrugged. “Okay.”

“You know,” Leigha said, leaning forward on her elbows. She eyed him speculatively. “I've always wanted a gay friend.”

“Er. You know I don't know anything about fashion or interior decorating or anything, right?” 

Leigha rolled her eyes. “Now who's stereotyping?” she asked. “I just want to be a straight ally.”

Huh. Well. Couldn't fault her for that. “Well. I always wanted a cheerleader for a friend,” he said tentatively. He'd really just wanted friends, period.

Leigha grinned at him. “Besides, we can work on your fashion sense. Ever seen Queer Eye for the Straight Guy?”

**

Freddy was on a high of happiness that carried him through nearly the whole day, until 8th period. Then, the late night he and Billy had spent at the Lair caught up to him. He had Algebra for his last period, and while he actually liked math a lot, he was also at least a week or two ahead of the rest of the class. He wasn't a mathematical genius, or anything, he just grew impatient with the slow pace of the other students and tended to work ahead in the book at his own pace. 

So, Freddy really didn't think he could be blamed for growing a little... well... distracted during 8th period. Distracted by his own sleepiness, that was to say. By the time Freddy woke up, all the other students were packing up their binders to head for the buses, and Mrs Cox was standing in front of Freddy's desk, arms crossed.

Freddy hastily wiped the drool off his face and looked up at her guiltily. “Heyyy Mrs Cox,” he said, trying to think of some good excuse. His dog died and spent the night crying into his pillow? No, you didn't joke about shit like that. The dog had howled all night and kept him up? Better. Oh jeeze, she had Billy and Pedro too, though. Would she somehow know they didn't actually have a dog? 

Mrs Cox held up a hand, forestalling him. “That's the second time this week you've fallen asleep in my class, Mr Freeman. Once can be forgiven, but twice is a pattern. I'll be calling your guardians this afternoon to discuss a solution.”

“Oh, shit,” Freddy groaned. The problem was they had to stay up so late for everyone to go to sleep to sneak off to the Lair, that by the time they got back they were seriously cutting in to their usual sleeping hours.

One of Mrs Cox's eyebrows rose, and Freddy could have sworn her mouth twitched, as though she were trying to fight back a smile. “We may need to discuss your language as well.” 

_Present Day_

Leigha actually had a pair of tweezers, and she was actually trying to use them on Freddy. He dodged her, falling back further behind the bleachers. His face was already stinging, and she'd only managed to pluck out two or three hairs. 

The first baseball game of the season was about to start and the cheerleaders were doing their pre-game warm-ups- which mainly seemed to be last minute application of lotion onto their legs and arms and touching up their lipstick, at least from what Freddy had seen. Leigha's pre game-routine also included hair removal, apparently.

When she'd asked if she could neaten up his eyebrows for him and he'd agreed, he'd really had no idea what he was getting into. “You know that you practically have a unibrow, right?” Leigha called, advancing on him with the tweezers held out like a weapon. 

Freddy hadn't actually known that, no. He was a bit hairy, maybe, but that was just natural, right? What hairs God had joined to his face, let no man put asunder, that was his philosophy. 

“You should really get them threaded,” she said, and then darted forward and grabbed him, laughing. “Just hold still. It will be done quicker that way.” 

Freddy groaned and pretended to hate it, even though he actually liked the attention. 

Leigha, true to her word, had adopted him as her new gay friend. It was probably a little demeaning, but he'd been having too much fun to care. She had sat with him at lunch twice, and when she'd failed to interest him in discussions of Rupaul's Drag Race or gay Youtube stars, they'd spent the lunch period discussing and ranking the attractiveness of all of the superheros. (He'd been extremely flattered to find out that his own superhero persona had ranked in Leigha's top five, and several places ahead of Billy).

Leigha was also in more of his classes than Billy was, so they'd been sitting next to each other and working in groups when they could. 

Billy was highly amused by the whole thing, but had chosen to sit with his baseball friends instead when Leigha came around. Freddy would have thought he'd care that he wasn't getting to eat lunch with Billy, but really, he didn't mind. He saw Billy all the time, and having a friend outside his family was a novelty.

In the week since the hand holding incident, pretty much everyone now knew about him and Billy. After the shock that Billy was in a same sex relationship (again, no one seemed surprised that Freddy was gay) had died down, things had mostly gone back to normal. The few kids who seemed to care were the kids who'd hated them anyway, so not much changed, except Freddy suddenly became a lot more popular with girls. How ironic was that? 

“OW!” Freddy yelped when one particularly stubborn hair made his eyes water as she tugged it out.

“Baby,” Leigha said, and mercilessly plucked another one. “You know, you'd probably better shave your mustache too. It's not thick enough for a YMCA vibe, if that's what you were going for. Maybe in a few years.”

Freddy self consciously put a hand up to the fuzz on his upper lip. He hadn't been going for a YMCA vibe- he'd been going for a not realizing he actually had enough facial hair to warrant shaving vibe.

He endured Leigha's plucking with as much good grace as he could, but when her tweezers lowered ominously to his mustache he pulled away. “Okay, okay! I'll shave it off. Mercy!” He rubbed the space between his eyebrows, wincing. The skin felt hot and tender. “Does it really look better?” he asked, because he'd never noticed before it had looked bad. It was exhausting work living up to a gay stereotype.

“It just needed to be tidied up,” Leigha said, studying him. “You're actually pretty cute, Freddy. You're funny too. I can see why Billy likes you.”

Freddy blushed and looked down at his shoes, smiling. “You think he'll like this?” he asked, gesturing at his eyebrows. He'd never been friends with a girl his age before, but it was kinda nice. He felt like he could ask her things he'd never have dared ask another boy.

“Definitely,” Leigha said with all the confidence and self assurance of a teenage girl. She linked her arm in his, leading him out from behind the bleachers. More families and students had shown up and the bleachers were starting to fill. “Now, I need to go join the squad, and you need to go do whatever student managers do.”

“I don't actually do anything,” Freddy confessed.

Leigha shook her head at his laziness, then ran off to join the other cheerleaders, her long blonde ponytail swinging. 

“Freddy!” a voice called and he turned to look at the bleachers. Rosa, Victor, Darla, Mary and Eugene were smack dab in the middle of the bleachers, somehow seeming to take up more space than any other family grouping. It gave Freddy a warm feeling to know he belonged to that group of people.

He lifted a hand and waved back at them, then headed down to the bench to join the other team manager. Malik was a tall black boy who Freddy would have had a serious crush on, if he wasn't going out with Billy. He had a small afro and a little silver ring in his nostril and a beautiful, plush mouth. Malik was also the most passionate baseball fan Freddy had ever met. He was watching the players warm up out on the field and jotting down notes in his ever present journal. Freddy honestly didn't even fully understand all the baseball rules, but Malik was as invested as the coaches. 

“Malik, why don't you play baseball? You love it,” Freddy said, because despite the fact they'd been around each other the last couple of weeks since baseball had started, he hadn't gotten to know him. Malik was a fairly new transfer to the school, but he'd almost immediately been welcomed into the jock crowd, and thenceforth been out of Freddy's social league almost from the moment he'd set foot on campus. 

Malik spared him a glance, then looked back at the field. “Shoulder injury,” he said shortly. “At my old school. I had surgery over the summer and my doctor said I wasn't ready to play yet, so I'm sitting a year out.”

“Wow,” Freddy said. “That sucks.”

Malik gave him an unimpressed look, as thought to say “obviously,” and then went back to his notebook. After a few minutes, however, he cut a glance over at Freddy. “You're friends with Leigha Roberts, right?” he asked in a way that made Freddy suspect that he might like Leigha.

Freddy opened his mouth to say no, because he had no friends outside his family, then closed it again. Oh yeah, Leigha _was_ his friend. “Yeah. She wanted a gay friend, like as an accessory or something, so yeah. I got elected.”

Malik frowned, as though he were disappointed by that answer. “Oh. That's not cool. My older brother's gay.” 

Freddy's head whipped around. Malik's brother was gay? Another guy like Malik, but gayer? Wow. 

“Uh, I was joking, kinda. Leigha's cool. She's a straight ally,” he said, because that's what Leigha had called herself. “But, she's really just my friend,” he added, and he thought that was true too. At least, it felt like they were friends, not _allies._

“Oh, okay. Good,” Malik said. “Hey, have you ever heard of the Attic Youth Center?*” When Freddy shook his head Malik continued. “It's a gay youth program. My brother was in it when he was a teenager, and now he volunteers there- sometimes I help out too. You should check it out.” 

Oh, wow. Freddy had thought parading his sexuality for the school to see would mean nothing but bullying and ridicule, but it had actually apparently opened up a lot of doors that Freddy was definitely not going to close. “Uh, yeah, I totally will,” he said, feeling flush with excitement. He couldn't believe that there was a gay youth program and he hadn't known about it! He wondered if Billy would want to go- and then he realized that he'd actually be willing to go by himself, even if Billy didn't. And that felt rather liberating.

Malik, apparently having done his job, nodded and went back to studying the warm up. He was emboldened by his success, however.

“Um. Hey, Malik? Do you think you could answer some questions? I don't actually know all the baseball rules.” (Or care about them, but whatever.)

Malik smiled in apparent amusement. “Yeah... I'd noticed. I wondered why you wanted to be a student manager, but I guess I know now,” he said, looking pointedly at Billy, who was throwing baseballs to another team member, wearing his tight uniform pants and looking like a teenage dream.

He rubbed his hand against the back of his neck, knowing he'd been caught. “Well there's Pedro. He's shy. I wanted to support him too.”

“Uh huh,” Malik said skeptically, and they both looked at the field, where Pedro appeared to be getting along just fine without Freddy. 

“Yeah, I could answer some questions,” Malik said magnanimously, and laid his notebook aside. “What do you want to know?”

**

They didn't win the game, because their life wasn't a movie, but Billy and Pedro didn't seem too beat up about it. It had been close, and their JV Coach was back from paternity leave and had given them a great pep talk after the game that had inspired even Freddy. 

“We'll get 'em next time!” Freddy crowed and threw his arm around Billy's shoulders as their teammates around them grabbed their gear and began to leave the locker room. He turned to Billy, and then the words he'd meant to utter stilled on his lips. He inhaled, the scent of Billy all sweaty and musky flooding his senses, and his knees went shaky. “W-whoa,” Freddy moaned, and Billy's eyes went wide in alarm.

He glanced around to see if anyone had heard Freddy, and seeing that no one was paying attention to them, he pulled Freddy around the corner of the locker room, to the bank of showers that weren't used after games. He pulled him into one of the shower stalls and yanked the door closed.

“Freddy, you need to calm down,” Billy said, because he knew Freddy well enough to be cautious of that look when he saw it. Sometimes, when Freddy was caught off guard by how attractive he found Billy, he lost his head a little.

Billy's own cheeks were flushed, though, and he was looking at Freddy like he didn't think Freddy smelled that bad either. Maybe he was wooed by Freddy's plucked eyebrows.

“It's just you smell _amazing,_ ” Freddy groaned, stepping into Billy's space and shamelessly putting his nose to the crook of Billy's neck. “Holy God, I've never smelled you this sweaty and pheremoney and unf-” And oh jeeze, Freddy was getting a boner, and noooooo, he couldn't do that! 

The problem was that their brilliant plan of sneaking off to the Lair at night to have sex had been ruined by Freddy falling asleep in Algebra. Mrs Cox had called home, and Victor and Rosa had begun to enforce a strict bedtime, checking on them several times to make sure they were in their beds. Usually by the time the coast was clear they had actually fallen asleep. So, they were back to blue balls and hopeless longing. 

“Freddy,” Billy protested in a whisper, but Freddy could tell he was tempted too. He had his hands on Freddy's hips, and though he'd begun by pushing him away, now he was pulling him closer. He leaned against the wall of the shower stall and Freddy crowded up against him.

“Shhh, just let me have this,” Freddy pleaded. He stuck out his tongue and licked Billy's neck, and it was sour and a little gross, but in a dirty-sexy way. “Just one for the road.”

Billy chuckled, but hugged him back. “You know on my birthday? I really wish I could, um. Return the favor.”

Freddy pulled back, feeling stunned. “You want to- _givemeablowjob?_ ” he asked, all in a rush. “Oh holy God.” 

Billy ran a hand through his sweaty hair. “I just wish we could have a little privacy!" 

“This weekend?” Freddy asked, clasping his hands and looking at Billy as one might look at the face of Jesus on a piece of burnt toast. Billy hesitated for a moment, probably considering the logistics of sneaking away to the Lair, then nodded. Freddy flung himself on Billy again. 

Billy gave Freddy a quick kiss on the forehead, but then he pulled back, his expression confused. He reached up and touched the skin between Freddy's eyebrows. “Why is your skin all red?”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chiiyo86 suggested letting Billy take a turn as the POV character, and I'm going for it. It's going to make this story even less cohesive than it already is, but hopefully no one cares. If you were here for a tightly structured plot you'd already be gone at this point anyway, ha ha. Modull gave me the idea for teenage parties and games. She also wanted to see truth or dare, and I'm definitely considering having Billy and Freddy play truth or dare privately and spill some secrets!

_Billy's POV_

Freddy was fussing in front of the mirror, nervously rubbing at his upper lip and examining the regrowing hairs between his eyebrows. He leaned close to the mirror and tried to pull out the hairs with his fingernails, but scowled when it obviously produced no results. 

“Is this shirt okay for a party?” Freddy asked, his voice a little squeaky with anxiety. He had on a his favorite Superman shirt, the one with the logo on the front and a hole under the armpit Rosa had sewn back up multiple times. It was an old favorite and it showed its age in the faded colors and worn emblem. It had the benefit of being on the small side though, and it showed off the slim waist and torso Freddy usually hid under baggy clothes. 

It was really nerdy, truth be told, but Billy didn't care. Freddy just had to be Freddy, and it would take a harder heart than his to try and change him. He'd almost done that once before, and it had nearly lost him the most important person in his life.

“You're adorable,” Billy said honestly, and grinned when Freddy glared at him.

“Adorable! No teenager wants to be adorable. I'm not a freaking puppy,” Freddy grumbled, and he tore the shirt off and threw it onto the ground, along with a half dozen other t-shirts Freddy had put on and then discarded for various reasons.

Billy just sighed and leaned back against the wall, his ass sinking deeply into the ancient bottom mattress of their bunk bed. He crossed his arms. “Do you even want to go?” Billy asked, not for the first time. Billy had casually mentioned to Freddy that they'd been invited to a party at one of his teammates houses. (Technically just Billy and Pedro had been invited, but Billy wasn't going to exclude Freddy, and the host of the party could deal with it if he had a problem). Freddy, to his surprise, had been almost speechless with excitement- before his nerves had set in, anyway. 

Billy hadn't really cared if they'd gone or not. Teenage parties were usually pretty lame anyway. Then again, he'd never been the type of person to have problems making friends either, unlike Freddy. Because he'd frequently moved from school to school as a kid, he'd quickly gotten over any shyness he might have once had. He was always the trouble making, bad boy type with a 'don't give a shit' attitude that the wholesome kids thought was cool- which, go figure. Billy integrated into whatever group of kids was easiest, caring little about getting to know them, simply because he knew he wouldn't be friends with them long. They were shallow friendships, not having the chance to become close before he moved on to his next foster family and his new social group. 

Freddy was different. He was awkward and unashamedly dorky, and painfully vulnerable. He wore his emotions openly, showing the world exactly how they could hurt him, and yet acting surprised when they did, over and over.

Billy thought that was beautiful. There was something that was almost noble about being rejected so many times, and yet still leaving yourself open to more, just the hope of acceptance enough to sustain you. Billy was a little envious of that ability to let people in, too. Sometimes he feared his shell was too thick to let anyone know the real him- and that was still an improvement on the times when he'd never even considered that he'd want to let anyone know who he really was. 

“Of course I want to go!” Freddy exclaimed, shaking Billy out of his thoughts. “I mean, I do, right?” He paused, as though he'd asked himself that question, then nodded his head. “Yeah, definitely. I've never been to a party before. I mean, besides birthday parties with kids whose parents made them invite the whole class. But those don't count.”

And there, that was it. Who else but Freddy would admit that? And who else but Freddy would go to that party anyway, knowing full well it had been a pity invite but so hopeful that something good might come of it?

“You probably won't like it,” Billy warned him, trying to soften the disappointment Freddy would likely feel. He'd been to plenty of shitty kid parties himself. He knew all the party games contrived to get the boys and girls to interact, eating junk food and trying to care about who was dating who. These days it would probably be sneaking sips of beer filched from the fridge and pretending that the random couple making out in the corner like they had something to prove wasn't awkward for everyone.

“I want to go,” Freddy said firmly, and snagged the t-shirt he'd tried on first off the bedroom floor. “This one's okay right? Is it cool?”

It totally wasn't. Billy didn't think Freddy could be cool if he was granted a wish from a genie. (Obviously that wasn't what made Freddy awesome, but facts were facts).

“Yep,” he lied gamely, and smiled when Freddy seemed to take him completely at his word. 

Freddy gave his curly hair a tousle, which only managed to make it even more messy, and then grabbed his crutch. “Let's do this.”

Pedro, wisely, had refused the party invitation. Just being on the baseball team was stretching his social tolerance to the breaking point without inviting more of it on the weekends. He did smirk at them when Rosa wouldn't let them leave the house before she'd taken their picture though, like they were heading off to prom or something.

“It's your first high school party!” she'd cooed. “You're going to want to remember this.”

Inwardly Billy suspected they actually wouldn't, but he didn't miss the proud smile on Freddy's face, even though he tried to conceal it with obnoxious whining.

Rosa finally let them go, though not without a stern lecture about drinking and drug use, until Freddy had had enough and all but thrown himself out of the front door to escape. Their foster mother gave a long suffering sigh as she fondly watched Freddy hurtle down the stairs at a truly dangerous speed. 

“I'll look out for him,” he'd reassured Rosa, and they shared an amused glance of total understanding.

**

Victor dropped them off at the kid's house with firm instructions to meet him back outside at eleven. The house was larger and in a much nicer neighborhood than the Vasquez home, and they could faintly hear thumping music from outside, probably played in the hopes everyone could get over their nerves enough to dance. Through the windows they could see dim light and moving shadows. There were a couple of bedrooms with the lights on in the second floor- probably indulgent parents keeping out of the way to allow their kid to have some semblance of independence.

Beside him Freddy was wiping his hands on the front of his jeans nervously. 

“Hey,” Billy said, and he reached out to grab Freddy's sweaty hand when they'd stopped on the doorstep to knock. He wished he had some way of making Freddy understand that the best way to achieve social acceptance among teenagers was to act like you didn't give a shit if they liked you or not. But, that just wouldn't be Freddy. “It's cool,” he said, instead. “We'll have a good time.”

The door opened and Caleb, their host, appeared. Billy saw the moment his eyes widened slightly in surprise at the sight of Freddy, before he regained control of himself. Billy felt himself bristle a little at the obvious slight. He liked Caleb and they got along well during practice and games, and it pissed him off a little that Caleb had either forgotten Freddy was his boyfriend, or more likely that he hadn't thought Billy would bring him.

He glanced furtively over at Freddy, but decided that he hadn't noticed anything.

“Come in, guys,” Caleb said, and stood aside for them to enter. As he passed him Billy gave Caleb a cool glance, to show him that he wasn't impressed.

The entrance led into the dark living room, lit only by the occasional lamp. Over the music the large flat screen television was playing some slightly racy teen movie, illuminating the people in the room. There were kids _everywhere,_ practically sitting on top of each other on the couches and easy chairs and sprawled across the floors and spilling into the hallways and kitchen. And they were all staring at the new arrivals, their expressions ranging from welcoming, surprised and finally judgmental.

“The party was supposed to be outside, but the neighbors called and complained about the noise,” Caleb said. “Uh... make yourselves comfortable.”

Billy didn't see anywhere the would be particularly comfortable, and Freddy was looking a little flustered at the attention they were getting, so Billy pulled him in the direction of the kitchen, where he knew the food would be. It would at least give them something to do for a while, and Billy had been to many such affairs for the sole purpose of getting access to the kinds of junk foods his foster families hadn't wanted to fork out the money to buy.

As he'd expected, the large kitchen lead to an even larger dining room. The huge table within was spread with chips of all types, dips, candy, punch, cakes and cookies and endless cans of soda. This had the touch of a woman about it, and Billy bemusedly imagined Caleb's mother planning the elaborate feast for her baby's “big boy” party. 

There was also that funny cheerleader who'd practically adopted Freddy in the dining room. Billy felt a bit of tension leave his shoulders when she spotted them and her eyes lit up at the sight. If Freddy had any hope of enjoying the night, and Billy was determined that he should, Leigha would go a long way towards making that happen. Her good opinion held weight in certain social circles, and she liked Freddy.

“Freddy! Billy!” Leigha yelled over the music. She raised an arm and expansively waved them over. She and most of the girls at the party were sitting in a corner of the dining room, cross legged in a circle. They giggled as a group when the boys joined them, even though Billy didn't see what was so funny. 

He also noticed the way a couple of the girls' gazes lingered on him, before shyly looking away. Freddy also didn't see that, which was just as well. 

Billy had had girlfriends before- if you could call it dating when you'd barely hit puberty and hadn't done anything but hold hands at lunch time. He hadn't stuck around long enough at any school for any kind of real relationship, but he definitely liked girls. Honestly he'd always liked girls much more than he'd ever been interested in boys, even though he'd known for quite a while that he was pretty sexually open minded. 

He just liked Freddy better than everyone else he'd ever met. That was just how it had worked out.

“Cool party, right?” Freddy asked excitedly when he collapsed down beside Leigha. Billy grabbed Freddy's crutch to keep it from knocking out the girl on his other side, then sat down slightly behind him, since the pace wasn't big enough for a larger circle.

“Yeah, right,” the redheaded girl on Leigha's right said sarcastically. Her name was Hope or Heather or something like that. “There's no room to dance. There's no room to do anything!”

Freddy deflated a little. He glanced around the room, and finally seemed to read the discontent of the crowd. “Oh...”

“The neighbors said they were going to call the cops, so we had to come back inside,” Leigha explained redundantly. She wasn't the kind of person to be down for long, though. “But there's still fun things we can do!” she said perkily. 

“What?” one of the girls asked, leaning forward eagerly, probably knowing that Leigha always had the best ideas. Billy was pretty sure Leigha would grow up to be a wedding planner or cruise director, or something like that.

“There are lots of game we could play. Like, truth or dare,” Leigha said with relish. “Or maybe Spoons. Caleb is bound to have cards. Oh! Or spin the bottle.”

“My parents played spin the bottle when they were kids,” some young aspirant to the throne said scornfully, though she shriveled back into her place when Leigha lifted an imperious eyebrow at her. Leigha was friendly and essentially a good-natured person, but she didn't take insubordination lightly.

Leigha lifted her rhinestone encrusted iPhone and shook it pointedly, her lip a little curled. “There are spin the bottle apps now, Savanna. Duh.”

“We'd need to get the boys on board,” another girl said, starting to look intrigued. Spin the bottle was somewhat risque, which obviously just made it more interesting for the group. Quite a few of them had been dating since junior high, but the opportunity to take their chances and spin to kiss a random boy obviously had appeal. 

“The whole baseball team is here!” Leigha said, and immediately took control of the situation. When she was done she'd had the boys push the dining room table against the wall and gathered a large group of willing participants and had them form a big circle in the middle of the room. The rest of the party who didn't want to join in were sitting against the walls to watch. However, when Billy and Freddy moved to join the spectator section Leigha gestured them back over.

“But, Leigha-” Freddy spluttered, looking both terrified and flattered. “I'm dating Billy, I can't-”

“Of course you can!” Leigha said, used to having her way. “It's just for fun, Freddy. There are lots of dating couples playing. You don't mind, right Billy?”

Billy opened his mouth to deny it, then thought again. How would he feel to see Freddy kiss someone else? The thought had never occurred to him before. Frankly, no one else had ever seemed interested in Freddy, and he'd felt secure in his place as the sole object of Freddy's affection. “Uh, no,” he said, even though he wasn't so sure, because he could see that Freddy was eager to be included in any sort of game they played. “Of course not.”

“And you too, Billy!” a pretty blonde girl called, her smile mischievous, and Billy saw Freddy's head whip around to stare at her, his smile immediately dropping. Billy could practically smell doom in the air, but he'd already agreed to it and to back out now would have been weird.

“Sure,” he said, and joined the circle of teens.

It was a pretty even mix of boys and girls. Most of the boys were his teammates from baseball, though he was less familiar with the girls. There were a few people he really didn't want to land on, like the douchey Bryer brothers, or a girl he'd seen cruelly mimicking a fellow classmate with a speech impediment in the cafeteria a few weeks ago.

Leigha, never more in her element than at the center of a social gathering, stood in the middle. “We'll use my phone. All you have to do is tap the screen and the arrow will spin on the phone and point at the person you'll kiss. There's also a number assigned to each person, if the arrow isn't clear. If you decide you aren't comfortable playing the game, you can bow out and join the spectators- no judgments. Kissing on the cheek is acceptable, though kissing on the mouth is preferred.”

“What about if we land on another dude? Can we just spin again?” one of the boys asked, and Billy's back stiffened, imagining it was a subtle slight on he and Freddy. He was beginning to seriously wonder how he'd let them be talked into this. Much as Freddy liked to pretend homophobia didn't exist in the world, Billy was more realistic, and he knew that them playing was bound to make for some awkward situations. Billy had made it a mission in life to indulge Freddy in whatever crazy situation he got himself into, though. What else could he do?

“The rules are clear,” Leigha said firmly. “You can kiss him on the cheek or forfeit your spot in the game. Your choice.” She bent over and placed the phone right in the middle of the ring of teens. “I'll go first!” she said cheerfully, and tapped the screen.

The arrow landed on a boy named Aaron that Billy considered to be one of his better friends on the baseball team. He was a tall, thin kid with acne scarred cheeks, and his face lit up with shocked pleasure to get the opportunity to get to kiss Leigha.

Leigha pranced right up to him and held his cheeks in her hands and gave him a kiss on the mouth without a hint of hesitance. She wasn't stingy either- she didn't pull back immediately, and while there was definitely no tongue exchanged, it was a lingering kiss, probably meant to set the tone of the game. Leigha led her subjects by example. 

It might have been Aaron's first kiss, and when Leigha pulled back his lipstick smeared mouth remained open and his eyes were a little glazed. A few of the boys hooted and clapped and the girls giggled delightedly behind their hands. 

The next couple didn't kiss as enthusiastically, and the third couple were a female same sex pair that laughed hysterically as they exchanged chaste kisses on the cheek. As they worked their way around the group, Billy began to loosen up. Most people were good sports about it, and it was actually pretty funny to see the way the boys pulled exaggeratedly pained expressions as they pecked each other's cheeks. Some couples even got into it, putting on a show to the loud encouragement of the crowd. 

Even better, Freddy was clearly enjoying himself, which was more than Billy had honestly expected. He'd been afraid Freddy would be disappointed by his first high school party. One of the girl's spins had even landed on Freddy, and she'd cheerfully kissed him on the mouth. When she asked him if he'd ever kissed a girl before and he'd bashfully denied it, she'd gleefully crowed about being Freddy's first female kiss. 

When it was Billy's turn he landed on a Hispanic girl with braces and thick, wavy hair past her butt. She was pretty, and it wasn't exactly a hardship to get up and give her a quick kiss on the mouth. Plus it was pretty funny to see Freddy pout at him afterwards.

Next was Freddy's turn, and though he had to struggle a little to get off the floor with his crutch, he'd become comfortable enough with the group that he didn't even seem to mind as much as he normally would have. He was grinning as he tapped the screen, though his smile faltered when the arrow spun and then landed. It was Brett Bryer, _of all the fucking luck._

Freddy looked up at him apprehensively, and when Brett realized it had landed on him his face twisted in disgust. 

“Yeah, I'm not kissing a fag,” he drawled, and there were a few gasps of shock. Freddy had frozen in the center of the circle, his fun with the game dying so dramatically that it was devastating to witness. In a moment, when he'd collected himself, Freddy would be hurling ridiculous insults like a little hellion, but for now he'd been caught off guard and he was pathetically incapable of concealing his wounded emotions. 

The sweep of fury that washed over Billy was so sudden it was disorienting. He was on his feet before he'd even realized what he was doing, his fists clenched tightly. As though he were facing a threat from a dangerous opponent, the name of his superhero alter ego was on the tip of his tongue. He'd fucking kill Brett Bryer and-

“No one wants to kiss you anyway, Bryer,” someone said coldly before Billy had a chance to move across the circle and do his best to break Brett's teeth. The baseball team manager, Malik, stood from his position around the circle. He sneered at Brett, his handsome face so contemptuous it would have stopped dead a tougher bully than Brett Bryer. 

“I'm not scared to kiss a boy,” Malik said, and stepped up to Freddy in the center of the circle. He gently took Freddy's chin in his hand and gave him a fearless kiss on the mouth that was more sweet then sexual. When he pulled back Freddy was blushing furiously and a small smile had returned to his face. There were practically stars in his eyes, and Billy's anger began to bleed away to be replaced by a whiff of jealousy. He wasn't used to Freddy looking at anyone else like that. That was _Billy's_ look of adoration Malik was on the receiving end of.

“Get the fuck out, Bryer!” Leigha snarled, practically spitting with fury. She was standing too, her tiny form tense and poised. She looked like she would have had Billy's back in a fight against Brett, and Billy's estimation of her increased tenfold. 

Led by Leigha's indignation, the girls hissed and booed at him until Brett had huffily stomped out of the room, followed loyally by Burke. Billy watched them narrowly until they were gone, then he sat back down. He'd teach Brett a lesson about politeness sooner rather than later, he just had to be patient and plan it out. He could play the long game. 

Freddy stumbled back to his spot beside Billy, and feeling a stirring of possessiveness in his tender teenage soul, Billy took Freddy's hand- just to remind him who loved him, in case he momentarily forgot.

“What an asshole,” one of the boys said, and though it was obvious to Billy the kid was saying it to earn brownie points with the girls, Freddy looked gratified. He clearly hadn't expected the kind of support he'd gotten.

“Wow,” Freddy said, looking over at Billy, and Billy put his cynicism aside. Whatever their motives were, the whole group had rallied behind them, and that was something unexpectedly nice.

The game continued for several more rounds. Freddy kissed two more girls, and Billy awkwardly kissed a teammate's cheek and then another girl. Interestingly, the best kiss of the night was between Leigha and Malik. There was definitely something to that kiss, and when Billy lifted his eyebrows at Freddy, Freddy looked strangely smug.

“I totally called that one,” Freddy said under his breath. Whatever that meant. 

After that the game evolved into a hilariously silly round of truth or dare, in which Leigha tried to hold a handstand for thirty seconds, Freddy had to stick his hand in the downstairs toilet bowl and Billy admitted that he'd eaten his boogers when he was a kid. What? Everyone had!

Before even Billy was ready to leave eleven had rolled around and they had to run out the house, calling goodbyes, so that Victor wouldn't have to come in and retrieve them. It was the most fun he'd ever had at a party, and Freddy spent the ride home babbling about the events of the evening to Victor, totally blowing any cool kid points he might have earned that night. Billy just leaned his head back against the seat rest and watched his boyfriend be joyful.

**Author's Note:**

> I need your help! I love this story and I have so much fun writing it, but I'm running out of ideas. Are there any humorous teenage situations you'd love to see these guys experience? Anything else you're really wanting to read? I can't promise I'll do everything, but your ideas will help me keep this story going. thanks!


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